Blindness is a medical affliction that is as easy to prevent as it is widespread, particularly in poorer, developing countries. However, a simple, 20-minute surgery can prevent approximately 40 million people from permanently losing their sight. This is exactly the message that the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) is sending to the world with its “Alliance to Fight Avoidable Blindness” program – a new partnership program formed in cooperation with representatives from member countries of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), along with a number of non-governmental organizations. The initiative for this program was launched in February 2008 to pursue its agenda over a period of five years. During this period, the IDB is responsible for the implementation of the program's aims. The primary aim is to reduce the prevalence of avoidable blindness and to improve the access to and quality of all eye-related health care in the targeted countries. Particular emphasis is being put on keeping those children in school who abandon their education to assist a blind parent at home. The most common factor causing avoidable blindness is the widespread prevalence of cataracts, even though they can be easily cured at the expense of approximately $120 per patient, according to the IDB. Cataract surgery is widely regarded as one of the most effective health intervention surgeries, since it both relatively painless and requires no post-surgery treatment or recovery time. The total budget of the five-year program is estimated at $9.5 million, according to IDB, where the IDB itself will contribute $2 million to cover training, coordination, monitoring, evaluation and communication. Other donors like the Egyptian Fund for Technical Cooperation for Africa and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) in Sudan will jointly contribute an amount of $7.5 million. Moreover, the Alliance is also providing grants and scholarships in IDB member countries to medical doctors and nurses that want to pursue further studies in ophthalmology. Interestingly, the IDB started a similar program in 2003, and had provided 6,210 cataract surgeries in total between 2003 and 2007. However, this new initiative aims to restore the sight of 50,000 cataract patients within the next five years, including those in eight West African countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Guinea, Mali and Niger. Working independently of this initiative is another program whereby IDB provides volunteer ophthalmologists to work in Africa in conjunction with Nadi Al-Bassar in Tunisia and the Moroccan Association for Solidarity and Development – working as executive agencies. Ten Tunisian doctors are currently participating in this fight against blindness in the Middle East, North Africa and more recently, in South Africa. “Cataracts are a major cause of blindness for millions of people in the world; with an incidence rate of up to 90% in developing countries and 60% in other countries,” asserted Dr. Ahmad Al-Trabelsi, the president of Nadi Al-Bassar in Tunisia, speaking to Saudi Gazette. He added that his organization – that was established 25 years ago – is extending services free of charge by supporting a number of workshops, symposiums and training courses in the field of ophthalmology. “We have performed 60 to 80 cataract surgeries on a daily basis in Libya, Mauritania, Tunisia, Gaza, Sudan, Iraq, Niger and Mali,” he remarked. “We invited doctors from these countries to supervise patients in order to become familiarized with surgery procedures.” Dr. Al-Trabelsi has witnessed bizarre behavior from patients in his line of work. “One of the strangest things I have ever seen was when a blind man - who had never seen his wife - came for cataract surgery. When he saw her for the first time, he did not find her beautiful, and divorced her directly,” said Dr. Al-Trabelsi. He also narrated the emotional story of a mother received a cataract surgery and awaited to see her children for the very first time with tears in her eyes.
