Eye care charity Orbis has started a surgical training programme in Zambia on board its Flying Eye Hospital, an accredited ophthalmic teaching hospital on a plane.
Zambian ophthalmologists trained through Orbis-sponsored and other fellowships will deliver simulation training alongside Flying Eye Hospital staff and volunteers to ophthalmology residents.
Lucia Nadaf, country director of Orbis Zambia, said: ‘This partnership between Orbis and University Teaching Hospitals-Eye Hospital marks a significant milestone in our ongoing efforts to address avoidable blindness and vision loss in Zambia.
‘We are grateful to the Alcon Foundation and Omega for their contributions to this project, which will allow us to take significant strides towards improving diagnosis, treatment and management of eye conditions across the country.’
Training on board the plane will include a combination of simulation and hands-on surgical training, as well as virtual courses on Orbis’ telemedicine platform, Cybersight.
The project will also deliver interdisciplinary subspecialty training, including for cataract, the leading cause of blindness in Zambia.
Orbis’ Flying Eye Hospital visited the capital city Lusaka for the first after flying to Ndola in 2012 for a paediatric ophthalmology training project.
