Message from Ethiopia
Thank You SightLife!
On November 6, 2009, Dr. Tilahun Kiros, who recently spent time training with all of you at SightLife, and I completed 9 corneal transplants in Mekelle, Ethiopia, with the gratis tissue that you sent.
Dr. Matt Oliva and patient after cornea transplant
All of the transplants were on bilaterally blind young patients, including two from the blind school. In this photo I am standing with one of the recipients. Before surgery, he 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.
A very big thanks to your own Caroline Ulrickson and Jake Requard at Vision Share for pulling together the corneas for these transplants. Dr. Tilahun is becoming an excellent transplant surgeon and is now better equipped to meet the incredible need for corneal transplantation in Northern Ethiopia.
I also stopped by the Ethiopia Eye Bank and met with the medical director, Dr. Yonas Tilahun. As you know, the eyebank is an amazing facility and is the donation center for the entire country of 85 million persons. The staff is competent and compassionate. They are primed for success to supply more corneas to the five surgeons doing transplants in Ethiopia.
Blind patient in need of
a cornea transplant
The amount of corneal blindess in Ethiopia is staggering, primarily due to vitamin A deficiency and measles, trachoma, trauma, and infection. The eye bank is adjacent to a major residency training center for Africa, and the young surgeons are getting important exposure to corneal tranplantation. I think it is vitally important that we continue to support the Ethiopian Eye Bank and individual surgeons.
Dr. Yonas and Dr. Kiros are both dynamic and skilled. We will be back soon, and I know they will be good partners for the future.
Warm regards,
Dr. Matt Oliva
Editor's note: In addition to his yearly sight missions in developing countries, Dr. Oliva serves as an Associate Medical Director for SightLife.
