Cataract surgeries sponsored by IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation in Africa continue in rural parts of Sudan. In this regard, 375 cataract patients were offered free surgeries in Damazin in Blue Nile province on the Ethiopian border.
Spouse of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, Turkish ambassador to Sudan Erdoğan Kök and his wife, provincial health minister, Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency (TİKA) Sudan coordinator Osman Vatansever, IHH deputy chairman Hasan Aynacı and some Sudanese ministers were in attendance in the inauguration ceremony of IHH’s Sudan Blue Nile Cataract Campaign.
Delivering the opening speech, Aynacı gave some information about the work which has been done in Sudan since 2007 as part of the cataract campaign. Wife of Sudanese President Al-Bashir, who also spoke at the event, offered her thanks to the friends of Sudan and said they are grateful to brother Muslim nations due to their support for the development of Sudan.
During the 10-day-long surgeries, 1,500 patients from Damazin and neighboring regions were examined. Free surgeries were offered to 375 of these people who had cataracts. The cataract patients were re-examined three days after the surgeries and they regained their vision.
Damazin, one of the poorest provinces of Sudan, which is one of the least developed countries in the world, has a population of around 80,000.There are only two eye care doctors in the province where economic circumstances are very poor and majority of the people live on the hunger threshold. In Damazin where purchasing power is too low, it is nearly impossible for the people, except for a small group, to afford medical services.
As part of IHH’s cataract campaign, which has nearly reached out to people in every region of Sudan, 83 people were offered cataract surgeries in 2008, 274 cataract patients were offered surgeries in 2009, which makes a total of 357. With the latest surgeries, the number of cataract surgeries recently performed in Sudan has risen to 732 and 34,694 in total so far.
Cataract surgeries in Sudan will continue with the surgeries in Darfur region next month.
