IBRAF takes part on the Alliance to Fight Avoidable Blindness
Partners of the AFAB at the Coordination Meeting in Istanbul
The Brazil Africa Institute is now a partner of the Second Generation of the Alliance to Fight Avoidable Blindness (AFAB), an iniciative carried out by the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD). The program aims to restore eyesight to blind people who had suffered from visual impairment that can be prevented or treated.
The President of IBRAF, Professor João Bosco Monte, attended to the Coordination Meeting of the AFAB in Istanbul city alongside with the other 22 partners. “The meeting was a very good opportunity to demonstrate that cooperation and solidarity can promote social development”, says Professor Monte.
The Second Generation of the Alliance will develop its actions in 12 African countries: Burkina Faso, Chad, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Mali, Mozambique, Niger and Togo. According to Dr. Waleed Al Wohaib, Director General of ISFD, “about 33 million people in Africa suffer from visual impairment while nearly 75% of these cases can be prevented or treated, especially those related to cataract”.
AFAB also aims to boost capacity development measures in eye care and eye surgery by establishing health centers and providing scholarships to train new doctors and nurses in the recipient countries.
The Second Generation of the program will work from 2018 to 2022. The first phase achieved the mark of 244,197 eye examinations provided and 49,486 cataract surgeries performed in eight African countries.
