2nd Mission to restore sight in Myanmar begins : 25th dec13 ~ E-Pao! Headlines

You are here: Home »

2nd Mission to restore sight in Myanmar begins
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, December 24, 2013: Under the banner of Mission Myanmar for Sight, a team of Shija Eye Care Foundation has been flagged off by Konthoujam Govindas, Minister of Commerce & Industry and Sericulture, Govt of Manipur at 10 am from here today.

The 11-member team comprising Dr.Kh Palin, Chairman cum Managing Director of Shija Hospital and Research Institute (SHRI); Dr.Sachindra Laishram, Consultant Eye Surgeon; Dr.Keisham Romen, Consultant Eye Surgeon; Chingangbam Dhananjoy, Legal Advisor; Dr.Bonney Kh, CEO SHRI; Pukhrambam Pusparani, Opthalmic Technician; Loitongbam Homendrajit, Opthalmic Technician; Oinam Junney, Nurse; Chongtham Rataneshor, Opthalmic Technician; Sukham Geeta, Nurse and Premjit L, Asst Manager Business Development, is targeting to perform 200 plus cataract blindness surgery at General Hospital Monywa, capital of Sagaing Dvision, Myanmar.

Cataract is the gradual opacity of the lens inside the eye ball causing gradual diminution of vision.

Vision can be returned by replacing the opaque eye with an artificial lens.

The Mission is sponsored by Okram Ibobi Singh, Chief Minister of Manipur and it is a collaborative effort of Govt of Manipur, Govt of Myanmar, Indian Consulate General and Shija Eye Care Foundation.

Special permit has been granted to the team for the Mission by the Government of Sagaing Division.

The team will perform the surgery on 26th, 27th and 28th of Dec and reach Imphal on 30th Dec, 2013. It is estimated that over 1.8 million Myanmar nationals are suffering from cataract blindness but there is lack of health care facilities in Myanmar.

So, the Mission is an attempt by Shija Hospital to give sight to the blind in its possible capacity.

Shija Eye Care Foundation has been able to provide community service to provide complicated eye care like PHACO, Retina Surgery, Occuloplasty surgery and Paediatric Opthalmology.

The Foundation has successfully done over 8000 cataract surgery in the last five years.

It can be remembered that in the first Mission Myanmar in May 2013, 103 free cleft lip and palate surgeries were performed successfully on 87 patients and this has helped in developing relationship between the two nations.

The objective of the Second Mission Myanmar is also to enhance the existing relationship between the two nations.

Speaking during the Flag Off ceremony, Dr.Kh Palin, Chairman cum Managaing Director of Shija Hospitals described the second Mission Myanmar as another milestone and historical event.

He shared his experience of the previous Mission Myanmar in 2013 and hoped that the second journey would be equally eventful and enjoyable.

He informed the gathering of the upcoming Cornea transplantation in facility and said that Shija is committed to bring this facility to the state of Manipur.

The previous Mission Myanmar received a lot of appreciation and he was informed through feedback that in Myanmar the earlier image of Manipur has been elevated after the Mission Myanmar.

Expressing the need for collective effort to improve the image of Manipur, he also urged the Govt to expedite the process of Visa on arrival facility and Passport office in Manipur, citing the difficulty faced in obtaining passport for the Mission Myanmar team.

Furthermore, he requested the Government to remove the status Protected Area Permit from Manipur to facilitate various industries including tourism and health industry.

Chief Guest of the flag off ceremony, Minister Govindas expressed his happiness over the initiative taken up Shija Hospitals.

He appreciated Dr.Kh Palin and the Shija team for the various innovations and developments brought in the field of medical sciences.

He said that such Missions and initiatives need to be supported by all.

The Minister also agreed to the bottlenecks pointed out by Dr.Palin Kh and said that the Govt is pursuing very hard to clear those bottlenecks.

Once PAP has been removed he believes that tourism in all sectors including medical tourism will develop in heaps and bounds, the Minister said.

* This news is as published by respected news daily at Imphal, whose name is duly marked as 'Source'. E-Pao.net is not responsible for it's sanctity & originality.

* Comments posted by users in this discussion thread and other parts of this site are opinions of the individuals posting them (whose user ID is displayed alongside) and not the views of e-pao.net. We strongly recommend that users exercise responsibility, sensitivity and caution over language while writing your opinions which will be seen and read by other users. Please read a complete Guideline on using comments on this website.