Islamic bank to fund 100,000 cataract surgeries

By Gokhan Ergocun

ANKARA (AA) - The Islamic Development Bank has created a $30 million fund to conduct more than 100,000 cataract surgeries and provide glasses to a million children in Africa, International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation head said on Monday.

Speaking at a coordination meeting for the fight against blindness in Istanbul on Monday, the trade corporation’s Chief Executive Officer, Waleed al-Wohaib, said: "About 33 million people in Africa suffer from visual impairment, which in around 75 percent of cases can be prevented or treated, especially those related to cataract."

The Islamic Development Bank, or IDB, established the Alliance to Fight Avoidable Blindness (AFAB) under the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD) in 2008, providing eye care to nearly quarter million people in eight African countries between 2008 and 2015, according to the ISFD.

The ISFD, which has $10 billion capital, was established by the IDB to reduce poverty, provide economic empowerment and healthcare in 2005.

Among most important goals of the second phase of the AFAB are conducting more than 100,000 cataract surgeries, providing one million children with medical glasses, establishing six health centers, three training centers, and training or retraining 90 ophthalmologists, and providing scholarships to train new doctors and nurses in 12 African countries, al Wohaib said.

Burkina Faso, Chad, Comoros, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Mali, Mozambique, Niger ,and Togo are among the 12 countries.

"The fund approved $5 million out of an estimated $30 million, being the total cost of the program," he stated.

He said a coordination meeting for the second phase of the AFAB would be organized on the sidelines of the IDB Group Annual Meeting in Tunisia in the first week of April.

The cataract clouds the eye's lens, hindering the vision of patients, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

A cataract surgery costs around $75, according to Turkey's Humanitarian Relief Foundation.