Dr Hunter Cherwek, medical director, Orbis International stated, "India accounts for nearly 20 percent of all blind children worldwide.
"With the sponsorship of Alcon, this Flying Eye Hospital program complements Orbis' Childhood Blindness Initiative in India, a program that aims to develop 50 pediatric ophthalmology centers across India by 2015."
Aim of the program: ophthalmic training
ORBIS and its multinational medical team are conducting an intensive training program (from Sept. 22 to Oct. 3) to enhance the skills of the local ophthalmic community.
The endeavor is to train the doctors so they can treat and prevent eye diseases like blindness, cataract, glaucoma, squint, oculoplastics and corneal disorders prevalent among the nation's population.
"The main concept behind this is teaching. We wish to engage with the surgeons here in order to teach them the skills they would like to learn from us. In this process we would like to learn a lot from them too," Robert Walters, Chairman of Trustees (United Kingdom), ORBIS.
Exchange of knowledge
The medical program will be a mix of lectures, symposiums and live surgical demonstrations in which a global team of voluntary eye specialists will work alongside local doctors, nurses and technicians to exchange knowledge and expertise.
“A total of 13 international volunteer faculties from some noted eye hospitals in UK, USA and Hong Cong will provide training to nearly 250 participants in various programs during the two weeks,” said Perry Athanason, communication manager, Flying Hospital, ORBIS.
The Flying Eye Hospital
The Flying Eye Hospital is a DC10 aircraft equipped with all the facilities of a tiny hospital. The wing space of the plane has been converted into an operating room, and the first class lounge a 48-seat classroom.
It also has an Audio-Visual studio, waiting room, a laser eye treatment space, and a recovery room.
"This is the only plane in the entire world and the only flying eye hospital. Inside the plane we have a surgical suite, recovery room, audio-visual centre and a communication centre. We used this plane to help trained local medical professional specialists in eye care," says Athanason.
ORBIS was invited by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. The mission was hosted by S.M.S Medical College & Hospital, the Sahai Eye Hospital & Research Centre, and sponsored by Alcon an eye care company.
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