Ethiopia
Dr. Matt Oliva and Dr. Tilahun Kiros Meshesha oversaw an important eye care intervention in Mekele, Ethiopia. At this cataract workshop, 598 patients received sight-restoring surgery and Drs. Oliva and Meshesha also performed ten corneal transplants on bilaterally blind patients. Earlier the same year, Dr. Meshesha received advanced training in the U.S. from the doctors at Medical Eye Center. Dr. Meshesha is one of the highest volume cataract surgeons in Ethiopia, providing critical eye care in the Tigray Region of his home country. “Dr. Meshesha is becoming an excellent transplant surgeon. He’s now much better equipped to meet the incredible need for corneal transplantation in Northern Ethiopia.”
The amount of corneal blindness in Ethiopia is staggering, primarily due to Vitamin A deficiency as well as measles, trachoma, trauma, and infection. “All of the transplants we did were on bilaterally blind young patients,” says Dr. Oliva. "Before surgery, one boy was totally blind and had to be led around by others. After the surgery, he was smiling and could get around by himself without help. I think it is vitally important that we continue to support the Ethiopian Eye Bank and it's individual surgeons."
Learn more at the CureBlindness website.
National Geographic Adventure
The December 2009 / January 2010 issue of National Geographic Adventure magazine features a cover article about Dr. Geoff Tabin and his 2009 Himalayan Cataract Project cataract workshop in Mekele, Ethiopia. Dr. Tabin serves on the board of directors of the Himalayan Cataract Project with our own Dr. Oliva, and he worked alongside local ophthalmologist Dr. Tilahun Kiros Meshesha, who received advanced training at Medical Eye Center.
Read the full article at National Geographic.
