The Palestinian International Cooperation Agency (PICA), in cooperation with its counterpart, the Tunisian Agency for Technical Cooperation (ATCT) and the Palestinian Ministry of Health, with the participation of Nadi Al-Bassar of Tunisia, conducted a medical mission in cataract in the Republic of Chad. The mission received financial and logistical support from the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD). The joint Palestinian-Tunisian medical team carried out 1,016 cataract intervention at the Chad-China Friendship Hospital in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena.
PICA Director General, Imad Al-Zuhairi, stated that this mission comes within a frame of implementation of the second phase of the Alliance to Fight Avoidable Blindness 2018-2022.
Al-Zuhairi added that the alliance targets 12 African countries, Burkina Faso, Chad, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Republic of Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Mali, Mozambique, Niger and Togo. The above-mentioned countries are members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
Al-Zuhairi also added that the Alliance aims to mobilize financial, technical and quality resources to combat poverty in the OIC member countries, especially those that are mostly affected by this disease .
There are 253 million people in Africa who suffer from visual impairment, including 80% that can be protected and treated.
PICA joined the Alliance early 2018. PICA contributes through technical support in implementing AFAB program and is committed to deploy four to five medical teams annually for a period of five years up to 2022.
AFAB is funded by the IsDB and the ISFD and other countries and organizations and is implemented in full cooperation with the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The agency’s participation in the alliance came following the signing of a partnership agreement with the IsDB and the ISFD, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Indonesia, Malaysia, Tunisia, Morocco, Turkey and Palestine.
This agreement was signed during the 43rd annual meeting of the IsDB in Tunis, April 2018.
A Fund of 250 million dollars is divided among certain countries and organizations to implement the program. While some other countries will provide financial support, others will be providing technical equipment and specialized human resources, including Tunisia and Palestine.
The joint mission to Chad lasted for nine days. During the first three days, 482 cataract treatments were performed, with an average of 160 operations per day. The medical teams conducted checkups for each patient before and after operations. The team operated from 8 am to 9 pm in a highly organized environment, during which 1,016 operations were successfully realized. It is expected that the program will be organized every two months with the participation of Palestine. According to the work plan, the next mission is supposed to be in Burkina Faso in August.
Under the supervision of PICA and the support from the Palestinian Ministry of Health, teams from Palestinian doctors will be present in all these missions in accordance with the signed agreement.