TES Foundation donates to the eye clinic |25 September 2017

The Eye Clinic of the Health Care Agency (HCA) is now better equipped after receiving a donation of equipment from the Teaching Eye Surgery (TES) Foundation.

The equipment worth $35,000 comprise intraocular surgical instruments such as microscope, loop, micro surgical knife among others.

Recently the Seychelles Hospital signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the TES to strengthen the quality of eye treatment in Seychelles through regular visits of high level surgeons from TES Foundation.

Also TES Foundation’s mission is to train local surgeons in state of the art eye surgery and assist health delivery structures in acquiring up to date ophthalmology equipment and, more importantly, to train local practitioners in their use.

The handover ceremony took place on Friday afternoon at the Operating Theatre of the Seychelles Hospital in the presence of high officials of the Ministry of Health and of the HCA.

It was the Minister for Health Jean-Paul Adam who accepted the donation from the President of TES Foundation, Professor Cyrus Tabatabay.

Professor Tabatabay stated that the equipment will allow the local surgeon to be better equipped and have up to date surgical tools.

“We are extremely happy to donate the equipment to the Eye Clinic of the HCA. Also in Seychelles there are some great surgeons full of potential and the equipment will allow them to better serve the public,” he said.

Accepting the donation Minister Adam stated: “The Health Care Agency has been pleased to receive the handover of equipment this afternoon which is situated within the partnership agreed as part of the MoU signed with the TES Foundation.  The MoU aims to raise the level of eye surgery in Seychelles to that of a global standard. In addition to the provision of state of the art equipment, the partnership also focuses on the building of capacity of the Seychellois ophthalmology team - led by Consultant in Charge Dr Roland Barbe.”

The partnership is also supported by the patronage of local business personality, Suleiman Aldhakil, who has aimed to ensure that locally based partners can contribute to the raising of standards that are a core component of the government’s strategic plan for health.

The Ministry of Health and the HCA have expressed their sincere appreciation to Prof. Tabatabay and Mr Aldhakil for their support and engagement which has facilitated the implenetation of this project.

Future investments under the MoU will include further specialisation training for young Seychellois doctors, both in Seychelles and overseas, as well as capacity building for other health workers in ophthalmology.

The next phase of infrastructure improvements will include the renovation of the specialised eye surgery operating theatre.

The MoU also provides for a ground breaking diabetes screening project using modern retinal scanners that will be implemented shortly once the equipment has been procured and the local staff appropriately trained.

Currently the local ophthalmology team is being trained by Professor Tabatabay.