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Israelis restore 2,000 people's eyesight

Itamar Eichner

Ynetnews

Mar 13, 2012

Delegation of Israeli doctors sets up eye surgery camps in seven developing countries

Israeli doctors have recently restored the eyesight of more than 2,000 people in seven countries: Nepal, Myanmar, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Cambodia, the Maldives and Ethiopia.

The surgical operations were performed in special camps set up by MASHAV (Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation, which is subject to the Foreign Ministry) in cooperation with the Eye from Zion organization and the Kahn Foundation. All surgeons were Israeli ophthalmologists.

Eye Camps is a special operation aimed at restoring the eyesight of patients in developing countries which have no infrastructure for eye surgery. Israel sends a team of ophthalmologists who for two weeks perform cataract, oculoplastics and sight restoring surgical operations on dozens of patients.

The Israeli physicians also provide professional training and guidance to local teams engaging in ophthalmology. The locals are responsible for selecting the potential candidates for surgery and gathering them in a central hospital or any other suitable site.

The equipment required for the operations and post-surgery treatments is purchased by MASHAV and flown to the different countries through diplomatic mail.