With the participation of 8 Nigerien doctors and 16 personnel 500 cataract surgeries were performed in 5 days at the Niger Eye Hospital which was established by IHH in Niger.
IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation has established an eye hospital in Niger's capital Niamey with the cooperation of Islamic Development Bank, TCCA, AID and Niger Ministry of Health within the month of February. With the participation of 8 doctors and 16 personnel a cataract camp has been organized at the hospital.
The camp has continued for 5 days and 100 cataract surgeries were performed each day.
80,000 surgeries in 7 years
The cataract campaign with the slogan "If You See They Will See" which was started in Africa by IHH in 2007 has been a relief to the eyes of 80,000 people.
Within the past 7 years in Africa 700,000 health checks were conducted, 297,000 eye examinations and 80,000 people had surgery.
Cataract in Africa
One percent of the 1.5 billion Africans are disabled, however, half of the 10 million disabled are cataract patients. A cataract is a clouding of the lens of the eye that can impair vision, if left untreated it can cause blindness.
The cause of cataract disease is inadequate and unhealthy nutrition, clean water and hygiene problems, continuous exposure to solar UV radiation and most importantly the lack and absence of doctors.
In Africa on average there is one doctor for every 1.5 million people. Cataract is also a case seen in newborns. If untreated it causes blindness. Many people are trying to continue their lives in the dark simply because they cannot have a simple operation that only takes 15 minutes.
Hot weather, lack of nutritional conditions and treatment facilities causes the cataract to transform to blindness.
IHH's cataract campaign
The campaign that is maintained by IHH is a relief to the eyes of many people, and on the other hand it is continuing to construct eye clinics and providing the opportunity to educate eye doctors.
The eye hospitals and clinics that have been established in Sudan and Niger has been the hope of hundreds and thousands of people.Just by donating $100 to "If You See They Will See" campaign, you will not only illuminate eyes but also the darkness of a persons world, a person who you do not know the name of or the address who lives one the other side of the world.
