I am pleased to report on the recent eye surgery mission with the Palestine Childrens’ Relief Fund (PCRF) to the West Bank in Palestine, 9-15 Nov 2019.

This mission was different from previous visits as I visited the new eye hospital this time in addition to my usual visit to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus.

The new hospital was opened earlier this year and funded by the Venezuelan government and named the Hugo Chavez Eye Hospital after their late president. It has been set up to provide a full and comprehensive public service for all eye conditions and accepts patients from all of Palestine.

Rafidia Hospital provides cover for the northern West Bank but used to accept patients from all over Palestine as well till this year.

PCRF has been sending eye surgeons to Nablus since 2000 and with the help of the local ophthalmologist, Dr Anan Matar, has delivered more than 2500 cataract operations at Rafidia Hospital for free. I was fortunate to be one of the surgeons who started with PCRF in 2000 and am pleased to complete my thirtieth visit to Palestine this time.

Cataract is the main cause of treatable blindness in the world and is defined by clouding of the natural lens in the eye, mainly related to age. The cataract is removed surgically and replaced with a clear artificial lens implant, thus restoring the sight of the individual.

It can be removed manually as one piece through a large wound or with a probe through a small wound, this being referred to as Phaco-emulsification. (Phacos being Greek for lens)

This requires a special machine which uses ultra-sonic energy to emulsify or break up the cataract into fragments for removal. This also requires a different lens implant able to fit through the smaller wound, making this procedure more expensive.

Phaco is now being offered only at the new hospital. The phaco machine was donated by PCRF in 2018, with AFOPA also contributing $35,000 to purchase accessories with a special appeal last year.

This time I took over more surgical accessories for the machine and extra surgical instruments purchased from a generous donation from Mr Robert Crabtree, a regular donor.

I spent 3 days at Rafidia Hospital and 2 days at the new hospital and 35 cataract operations were completed. This number was less than usual as more time was spent in educational exchange. The new hospital is run by Dr Zakaria and 3 other junior staff, all of whom are well-trained and competent in cataract surgery.

Thera are plans now to expand the service to other sub-specialities like paediatrics, corneal, glaucoma, retinal and oculo-plastic surgery. This will require additional volunteer surgeons to provide the extra expertise in those areas. PCRF has already sent an oculoplastic surgeon from the US earlier this year.

I would like to thank Dr Anan and Dr Zakaria for welcoming me back to Palestine and also thank the PCRF team for their logistic support and Dr Sam Shahin and AFOPA for the ongoing financial support to provide airfares since 2004.

Dr F Nathan, Ophthalmic Advisor to PCRF