(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
The Orbis Flying Eye Hospital, a medical facility equipped with a classroom and operating theatre, which is assisting the Qatar Creating Vision initiative in India and Bangladesh, is receiving admiration from visitors here at the Premium Terminal located at the Old Airport.
Qatar Creating Vision is a joint initiative of the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) and Orbis to provide 5.5 million eye screenings and treatments to children in India and Bangladesh.
'The Flying Eye Hospital is here to raise awareness of eye health issues around the world. A number of diplomats and other dignitaries have visited the hospital and we are hosting a workshop and seminar with Qatar Ophthalmic community on board the Flying Eye Hospital. All the doctors were invited to attend by Qatar Ministry of Public Health, said Rebecca Cronin, CEO of Orbis UK.
In November 2015, the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) launched the Qatar Creating Vision initiative to support the mission to eradicate avoidable blindness. QFFD's backing has enabled Orbis and its partners to have a significant impact on this mission.
'The aircraft not only enables our expert volunteers to train local eye care teams in their own country like India and Bangladesh, it also serves as a powerful tool for raising awareness and creating change, she added. Qatar Creating Vision has focused its charity work in India and Bangladesh as the two countries are home to approximately 473,000 blind children, with more children struggling with blindness in India than any other country. Obtaining treatment can be very expensive or may be too far away to reach. Shockingly, 60% of blind children will die during their childhood. On the Orbis Flying Eye Hospital, an official of Orbis told The Peninsula that it took more than six years in the making before the third-generation Flying Eye Hospital was first unveiled in Los Angeles in June 2016.
From the outside, the MD-10 looks like a typical passenger plane, but on the inside there is a state-of-the-art operating theatre, with audio-visual equipment that transmits live surgeries to the medical professionals Orbis trains in a 46-seat classroom in the front of the plane.
The aircraft also features pre and post-op spaces and a laser suite and 3D capabilities, enabling those in the classroom to get a very real view of the surgery taking place in the theatre.
Leonardo Mercado, a Staff Nurse told The Peninsula that he was associated with Orbis for the last 21 years and always felt satisfaction in dispensing his job as the organization was bringing smiles to those in need.
The flying hospital has also received the gold standard seal of approval by gaining its accreditation from the renowned American Association for Accreditation for Ambulatory Surgery Facilities International (AAAASFI).
'In Qatar, the Flying Eye Hospital is celebrating Qatar Creating Vision and the support of the Qatar Fund for Development, who have made this initiate a reality thanks to their generous donation. Over the last two weeks, we have welcomed dignitaries, VIPs and the press for behind-the-scenes tours of the hospital and the plane, to find out more about the countries we have visited, the work of our 400 plus medical volunteers and to experience a piece of aviation history, said Allan Thompson, Director of External Relations at Orbis.
Qatar Creating Visionis working to train over 90,000 school teachers, frontline-workers and community health volunteers in India and Bangladesh. They will also further the skills of up to 500 medical professionals in both countries.
In 2015 Qatar Charity and Orbis also launched a campaign to raise more than QR2m to reduce blindness in children in Bangladesh.
Under this partnership, Qatar Charity has been mobilising support for the campaign (Fundraising License 2016/4384), while Orbis, with its 15 years of experience working in eye health in Bangladesh, has been busy implementing it.
When asked how residents of Qatar could contribute to the cause, Thompson said that the people could donate towards the campaign in texting ‘El Ein' (the eye) to: 92133 to donate QR25; 92632 to donate QR50 and 92642 to donate QR100.
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