- More than 6,000 residents treated by staff as part of the initiative
- KSRelief, international charity, sign similar deals for seven other countries
KARACHI: The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief) concluded a five-day campaign to treat blindness in Khairpur, Sindh province where thousands of beneficiaries thanked Saudi Arabia for the initiative, officials said on Monday.
“This was huge camp where a large part of the poor population got the most expensive treatment for free,” Rizwan Ahmed Baloch, the camp manager told Arab News, adding that people couldn’t afford the expensive treatment which is unavailable at government hospitals and costs Rs25,000 at private health facilities.
The KSRelief concluded a five-day campaign to treat blindness in Khairpur, Sindh. (Photo Courtesy of KS Relief Twitter Account)
“Eyes are priceless and only those having problem can feel its importance. The patients were very thankful but they said were expecting more such camps,” Baloch said.
In September, Saudi Arabia’s KSRelief had signed 16 deals with
Al-Basar International Foundation – which is an international health charity – to implement the medical programs in Bangladesh, Yemen, Cameroon, Nigeria, Morocco, Eritrea, and Pakistan.
The KSRelief concluded a five-day campaign to treat blindness in Khairpur, Sindh. (Photo Courtesy of KS Relief Twitter Account)
In Pakistan, the campaign’s medical team treated 6,295 people, including 3,302 men and 2,993 women, by performing 401 surgeries, distributing 3,500 eye drops and 1,450 glasses in non-surgical cases.
In a message posted on Twitter on Tuesday, KSRelief said that the eye procedures conducted during the Kharipur campaign included lens replacement surgery, too.
Dr. Nafisa Shah, central information secretary of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and a National Assembly member from Khairpur, visited the camp on Monday last week and commender the facilities on offer.
“I am thankful to KSRelief for its services to the people of my area,” she said before requesting the center to conduct more such campaigns and hold screenings for other diseases, especially hepatitis, as well.
In the past two decades, Saudi Arabia has spent $87 billion in humanitarian aid to 81 countries.
According to data provided by KSRelief, since 2014, more than 1,011 humanitarian aid programs – worth $3.5 billion – have benefitted residents in 44 countries, primarily Yemen, Palestine, Syria, Somalia, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Iraq.