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Africa-Luz mobilises to provide
eye care in regions riven by poverty
Stefanie
Petrou Binder MD
in Nuremberg
THE basic objective of humanitarian organisation Africa-Luz is to
fight blindness in Africa, but its actual agenda steps beyond sight
restoration to providing medical training and a sense of hope to
areas all but bereft of medical resources.
Speaking at the Congress of German Ophthalmic Surgeons, founding
president of Africa-Luz, J.L. Douenne MD, said the organisation
strives to educate "health care professionals, national health
care administrators and the public".
Founded in 1994, Africa-Luz is a volunteer association established
by African expatriates to treat patients and help develop ophthalmological
care.
It comprises mobile groups of ophthalmic surgeons and medical personnel
who are dedicated to improving medical working conditions in African
countries.
The group has six donated trucks, two cars, three operation microscopes,
an autorefractive keratometer, an AB-scanner, and over 3,000 IOLs.
They also have more than 20,000 pairs of donated glasses. One of
the trucks houses an operating room with air conditioning and modern
machinery, the likes of which few African hospitals have seen.
The mobile units have the advantage of being able to enter areas
which are devoid of hospitals and ophthalmic care, usually far from
larger cities and towns. Most of the patients treated live well
below the poverty level.
According to Dr Douenne, the arrival of the medical group is usually
a big event for the town.
Curiosity about the new facilities is matched only by the hope of
successful treatment. The international nature of the surgical team
has at times made trust between the patients and the group more
difficult, and this is one of the many challenges of the job.
Africa-Luz seeks to establish hospitals and clinics where there
are none, and to reduce the incidence of blindness in those areas.
Dr Douenne said the criteria for choosing priority areas for treatment
are both simple and hopelessly complicated. They must have none
or few eye doctors, no hospitals, and there must be some kind of
post or mission to take in postoperative patients. That description
fits countless northern African regions.
Part of the strategy of Africa-Luz is to offer the most modern equipment,
instrumentation and techniques to the African medical personnel.
In doing so, they provide the best possible care and educate the
local ophthalmologists in the most up-to-date standards, thereby
giving them the tools for their future.
The group is always looking to recruit skilful and willing ophthalmic
surgeons and nurses, opticians, biochemists, and anaesthesiologists
who want to volunteer their time and knowledge for the betterment
of ophthalmic care in Africa. It has offices in Germany, Spain,
France and England.
Donations from their own members as well as from various institutions
and societies support Africa-Luz’s work in disadvantaged regions.
Corporate support comes from many companies including Alcon, Schmidt
and IOLtech. Donations are used to pay for the living expenses of
the permanent staff, vehicle and instrument upkeep, procurement
of medications and medical equipment, as well as the logistics of
working in Africa.
Some
90% of the world’s blind live in developing countries. At
least 80% of these could be either cured medically or surgically,
or their blindness prevented altogether through proper care. Cataract
is the overall major cause of blindness in Africa, accounting for
approximately 20 million cases.
Association Africa-Luz
Z.A. Layatz II, 64500 Saint Jean de Luz, France
Web: www.africaluz.com
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