3/9/2022
Qatar Charity (QC), in cooperation with the Ministry of Health of Cote d'Ivoire, has recently held 2022’s first eye medical and surgical camp to reduce avoidable vision impairment, while the other three medical camps are expected to be organized in the coming months.
The inaugural ceremony of the medical camp was attended by H.E. Fahd Mohamed Al Khayarin, Second Secretary at the Qatari Embassy in Cote d'Ivoire, and representatives from the health ministry, and the Mayor of Abobo, in addition to the health project official from Qatar Charity, the director of the Ivorian organization supervising the implementation of the project, and many dignitaries.
The two-week camp managed to medically examine 3,000 patients, including 300 persons who underwent cataract surgeries, in addition to providing medicines, treatment and free eyeglasses for patients who flocked to the hospital.
The medical camp aims to contribute to reducing the cases of avoidable vision impairment, alleviating the suffering of underprivileged patients, especially in deprived areas, improving the eye health of the community, and raising health awareness, in addition to reducing the level of poverty associated with visual impairment.
The Ministry of Health of Cote d'Ivoire provided the medical teams for the camp, while Qatar Charity provided the necessary funding for it.
The medical camp received a deeper response in Cote d'Ivoire, where the beneficiaries came from the far north of the country and from areas 700 km far away from the capital, Abidjan.
Qatar Charity, through the medical camp, seeks to contribute to achieving the sustainable development goals, especially goal 1 ‘No Poverty’ and goal 2 ‘Good Health and Well-being’.
It is worth mentioning that blindness is still a health problem for most developing countries, including Côte d'Ivoire, where it affects different age groups. According to the World Health Organization’s figures, nearly 90% of the world’s blind or visually-impaired population lives in low-income countries, including Cote d'Ivoire.