Emma White visits the Orbis Flying Eye Hospital when it touched down at London Stansted as part of the Vision 2005 conference earlier this month
Every five seconds someone somewhere in the world goes blind, yet 75 per cent of cases are preventable and easily treatable. Ninety per cent of the 37 million blind in the world live in developing countries.
Inspired by the scale of the problem, Houston ophthalmologist Dr David Paton founded Orbis in 1982. He came up with the idea of putting an eye hospital on board a plane to provide care anywhere in the world and thus the Flying Eye Hospital was born.
In its 23 years the Flying Eye Hospital has conducted over 230 programmes in 67 countries and its medical volunteers have treated thousands of patients while training some 63,000 medical professionals. Already, Orbis is estimated to have restored sight to 17.5 million people, but its work is far from done. Without immediate increased efforts, the number of people who become needlessly blind could double by the year 2020.
STANSTED STOP OFF
Fresh from two training programmes in New Delhi, the Flying Eye Hospital set down in Stansted two weeks ago so that the Orbis team could thank its many supporters and showcase the valuable work it does.
Executive director of Orbis UK, Pamela Williams-Jones, said: 'I am delighted that we have this opportunity to bring the Orbis Flying Eye Hospital to Stansted, this is a massive occasion for us and we are expecting over 500 visitors throughout the week.'
Orbis carried out its first mission in 1982 to Panama in a McDonnell Douglas DC8, but since 1994, it has been using a converted DC10. The aircraft is equipped with an operating suite, four-bed pre-operation and recovery room, substerile room, laser room and lecture theatre. The operating room is fitted with six cameras linked to the lecture theatre so that up to 48 doctors can look on and ask questions during the surgical procedure.
IN ACTION
A Flying Eye Hospital programme typically lasts three to four weeks and each one is designed to meet the host country's specific needs. A team visits the country ahead of the aircraft to assess its needs and the local doctors are asked to pre-select 30 patients they are unable to treat owing to a lack of skills or equipment. An Orbis volunteer meets the local doctor to discuss which patients are most suitable for treatment.
There are at least three training partnerships like this in a week and the hospital can expect hundreds of patients and family turning up on a screening day in the hope of being chosen. Patients are selected strictly on the basis of the best teaching cases.
Much like the African proverb: 'Give a man a fish and he won't starve for a day. Teach a man how to fish and he won't starve for a lifetime,' Orbis sends medical professionals to 'train the trainer' so that they can transfer their new skills to their colleagues and ultimately reach more patients.
At the beginning of the week the Orbis doctor leads the surgery, but by the end it is the local doctor who conducts surgery under supervision. After the procedure the patient is taken to the local hospital to recover.
EYE TO EYE
Building on the support gained during Flying Eye Hospital programmes and to reach remote areas, Orbis started establishing country offices in the late 1990s. So far, offices have been set up in five key countries: Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia, India and Vietnam. Fidel Castro, President Bush Senior, President Chan of Taiwan, the former president of China and the first lady of Paraguay are among the long list of figureheads who have stepped on board the DC10.
Last month, India's president Dr Abdul Kalam welcomed the Flying Eye Hospital to New Delhi. He was so impressed by the programme that he promptly arranged for the Indian Satellite Research Center to broadcast the surgical training sessions via a satellite to over 100 eye care hospitals across the country.
Ambassadors for Orbis in the UK include Sir Richard Branson, Sir Bobby Charlton, Baroness Uddin and Brian Little. As Williams-Jones said: 'The more support we can get in the UK the sooner we can achieve our goal of eliminating avoidable blindness in all corners of the world.'
ON THE LOOK OUT
Providing support for Orbis can take many forms, from fundraising to making a one-off donation to taking part in a programme yourself.
Alison Finlay, a senior lecturer in optometry at City University, took part in a voluntary paediatric optometry training week in Bangladesh in May 2003.
'I didn't think twice about doing it,' she said. 'The organisation for the programme was excellent. The booking of the flights, running of the programme, accommodation at the other end, even advice on jabs was provided by Orbis.'
The charity's structured learning technique also helped Finlay know exactly what was expected during the week.
'I lectured to about 30 ophthalmologists and hospital staff on refraction techniques and provided practical teaching on a one-on-one or one-on-two basis,' she said.
Finlay received a warm welcome from the Bangladeshi people during her trip and praised their fantastic appreciation.
'I can't say enough about the hospitality. The food was delicious and I stayed in a very nice hotel in Khulma. On our afternoon off the people took a colleague and I to the mangroves and for a picnic,' she said.
Finlay would recommend taking part in a programme to anyone. 'It was a very fulfilling experience. It was so satisfying to be helpful to people who show so much gratitude,' she said.
CASE STUDY IN CALCUTTA
Six-year-old Santosh Das was first introduced to the Orbis medical volunteers on the first day of the Flying Eye Hospital training programme in Calcutta, in February. He had gone blind a year earlier because of developmental cataracts in both eyes. Accompanied by his aunt Sona, Santosh attended the Regional Institute of Ophthalmology in Calcutta, where they told of the Orbis visit to the Indian city. Santosh was chosen by the Orbis medical team as an ideal patient to help train local doctors in small-incision cataract surgery. Most of the procedure was performed by Dr Janine Smith, director of paediatric ophthalmology at SUNY Downstate Medical Medical Center, New York. She was helped by two local ophthalmologists under the Orbis training programme. The next day, Dr Smith removed the bandages from Santosh's eye to show no complications, and he slowly showed signs that his vision had returned. Another day later and it was clear that the operation had had the desired effect. Dr Smith saw the grinning Santosh and she too was delighted: 'That's the first time I've seen him smile,' she said. 'I didn't even realise he had no front teeth, that's amazing.'
