KSrelief’s Saudi Noor Volunteer Program to Combat Blindness started in the city of Kattankudy on Sri Lanka’s eastern coast on May 5 and will run through next week.
“This is a special program to combat blindness among patients who are suffering from a cataract,” M.S.M. Thassim, director general of KSrelief’s local partner, the Association of Muslim Youth of Sailan, told
“From the total of 1,000 patients, 500 completed surgery and 500 more (surgeries) will be performed by May 16.”
Cataracts are the most common cause of blindness in Sri Lanka. Surgery to remove them is common, but government programs often require years of waiting. At private clinics, the cheapest lens replacement procedure costs about $300 — too expensive for many patients in poorer parts of the country.
“Cataracts are becoming a problem among the lower-middle class above the age of 40,” Thassim said.
“We perform cataract surgery and also give post-surgery treatment. The patients are from all parts of the island.”
The procedures are free of cost and conducted at the Kattankudy Base Hospital by Sri Lankan medics and six Saudi and Pakistani surgeons from KSrelief’s team.
One of the Saudi volunteers is Dr. Ehab Al-Sirhy, an eye surgeon from King Saud University Medical City in Riyadh.
“The amount of surgery done is an amazing number in such a short period,” he told Arab News, praising local hospital staff for their “excellent logistics and support.”
The medical campaign is part of KSrelief’s longstanding efforts to combat blindness in developing countries. Last year, the center’s team also visited Kattankudy and helped restore the vision of hundreds of patients.
“The results are very encouraging, so now everyone brings their friends and relatives, their grandmothers, their grandfathers,” Al-Sirhy said. “The (campaign’s) reputation is excellent.”
Thousands of people in Sri Lanka have benefited from a blindness prevention program launched by the Saudi aid agency KSrelief, as the project seeks to tackle vision loss in the island nation.
The Saudi Noor Volunteer Program, run between Sept. 6 and 16, was organized by KSrelief in the towns of Walasmulla and Kattankudy — both located hundreds of kilometers away from the capital Colombo — according to the Saudi Embassy in Sri Lanka.
The program was aimed at “alleviating the suffering of many people with blindness,” the Saudi Ambassador to Sri Lanka Khalid bin Hamoud Al-Qahtani told Arab News.
“The project includes diagnosing thousands of cases, providing medical services to them, and sorting cases that need surgical intervention,” the envoy said.
Some patients had their cataracts removed while others were given treatment and medication. Around 2,000 were also given spectacles and lenses to address their visual impairment issues.
As the treatments were free for those who needed the help, many benefited from the program. In less than two weeks, the medical work reached 7,000 people, around 1,000 of them requiring surgery.
“Those affected by partial blindness are from remote villages, and they cannot afford to pay the exorbitant hospital charges,” M. S. M. Thassim, director general of KSrelief’s local partner the Association of Muslim Youths of Seylan, told Arab News on Monday.
“With this assistance, they are able to do their normal work as usual,” Thassim said.
“The program is good because Saudi Arabia gives sight to those who are badly in need of it.”
