Flying Eye Hospital Saves Sight In Uganda

The ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital brought
its sight-saving mission to another new country -- this time Uganda. At the
invitation of Uganda's Ministry of Health and the National Prevention of
Blindness Committee, the ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital team conducted intensive
sight-saving and eye-care training programs in Entebbe and Kampala. More
than 40 patients underwent surgery to have their sight restored.


"Blindness is one of the world's most devastating challenges," said
Oliver Foot, ORBIS president and executive director. "The vast majority of
Uganda's blindness can be treated or prevented with existing therapies and
eye care resources. That's where ORBIS, the Ministry of Health and the
National Prevention of Blindness Committee come in. By working together, we
can deliver education, training and treatment where it's needed the most."


ORBIS tailors an ophthalmic program to local needs
An international team of ORBIS doctors and medical specialists worked
with eye care professionals from Uganda July 17 - 28, 2006, focusing on
cataract, corneal diseases, pediatrics, glaucoma, oculoplastics, retinal
diseases and ultrasound.


As many as 420,000 people in Uganda are blind, yet the country has only
39 ophthalmologists in government and non-governmental organization health
facilities across the country -- mainly in urban areas. The ORBIS Flying
Eye Hospital program provided one of the few continuing medical education
opportunities available to the ophthalmic community of Uganda.
During the two-week program:


-- 11 local ophthalmologists, six nurses and six nurse anesthetists
received hands-on training at the Flying Eye Hospital, working
side-by-side with ORBIS volunteer specialists.


-- 75 ophthalmologists and ophthalmic residents, 38 nurses and 40
anesthetists participated in wet-lab sessions, lectures and symposia at
Kampala's Mulago Hospital.


-- 50 biomedical engineers attended lectures and workshops on equipment
maintenance and medical technology management.


Uganda's first corneal transplants performed


Another ORBIS "first" took place during the program. Volunteer faculty
member Dr. Troy Elander of Santa Monica, California led the surgical team
who performed Uganda's first ever corneal transplant.


Dr. Elander left the United States with four corneas for transplant,
but upon arriving in Uganda, was thrilled to learn that two more corneas
had become available. The corneas had been donated to the Flying Eye
Hospital team days earlier during the ORBIS program in Ethiopia as a
goodwill gesture to the people of Uganda.


At the end of his one-week stay, Dr. Elander expressed enthusiasm for
the Ugandan ophthalmologists he had worked with. "They had never done
cornea grafts before, but they wanted to learn how to do them," Dr. Elander
said. "Not only that, but they also wanted a strategy as to how they could
bring eye banking to their country and make corneas available for their
patients."


Dr. Francis Mulwanyi, an ophthalmologist from Kampala, participated in
the ORBIS corneal transplant training program. "This week has demystified
corneal transplantation for me," Dr. Mulwanyi said. "I thought it was
beyond our reach, but now I think there is hope."


Minister of Health to petition Parliament to establish eye banking
The Honorable Dr. Richard Nbuhura, Ugandan Minister of State for
Health, toured the ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital and pledged to bring the issue
of corneal transplantation before Parliament.


"I have been informed that there are legal implications," Dr. Nbuhura
said. "But if this is the only way we can have people's eyesight restored,
then we shall go to any lengths to do so. The laws need to be amended so
that we can establish eye banks and allow the legal donation of corneas."


The ophthalmologists who worked alongside Dr. Elander have already
formed a cornea working group to keep the momentum going. The ORBIS Flying
Eye Hospital has now moved from Uganda and will be conducting treatment and
surgical training programs elsewhere in Africa until mid-September.


ORBIS International is a global network of care dedicated to saving
sight worldwide. Since 1982, our volunteers and staff have directly
restored the vision and transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands of
people in more than 80 countries.



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