El Salvador
Capital: San Salvador Language: Spanish
Estimated population: 6,134,000
The Problem:
Paediatric ophthalmology in El Salvador is an area in need of strengthening, particularly in rural areas.
According to UNESCO Vision Health (Catedra), 35% of the urban population in El Salvador has access to visual health services, versus 15% of the rural population.
El Salvador has no official published health studies on the incidence and prevalence of blindness, so ORBIS is sponsoring a Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness (RAAB) in the region, the results of which should soon be available.
Meanwhile, this Flying Eye Hospital Programme aims to promote the issue of eye care, while helping improve subspecialty services through hands-on training and knowledge transfer.
ORBIS in El Salvador:
ORBIS’s volunteer faculty of medical professionals will be assisting with a skills exchange programme on board the Flying Eye Hospital, whilst furthering the diagnosis, management and advanced treatment of childhood blindness.
The skills exchange will bring together a diverse range of El Salvador’s eye care professionals including ophthalmologists, nurses, biomedical engineers and anaesthetists. This will strengthen the medical network in the country and the rural management of the leading causes of blindness amongst the provincial population.
The programme will include the diagnosis and management of:
Cornea (the transparent front part of the eye)
Glaucoma (build up of liquid to the eye causes high pressure, damaging the optic nerve.)
Oculoplastics (plastic surgery involving the eye and/or surrounding area)
Cataracts (a clouding of the lens)
Retinopathy of Prematurity (premature babies with a high risk of losing their sight)
Read more on the eye-conditions ORBIS treats here.
ORBIS marks this third trip of the Flying Eye Hospital to El Salvador as an opportunity to explore a foundation for long-term engagement in the country.
Give the gift of sight today.
< Back to the ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital Timeline
