Israeli Volunteer Doctors Restore Eyesight to Dozens of Patients in Kyrgyzstan

A professional medical team of volunteers from Israel has restored eyesight to dozens in Kyrgyzstan in central Asia.

By: Atara Beck, World Israel News

A delegation of Israeli volunteer medical professionals traveled to Kyrgyzstan this month to treat patients suffering from vision impairment, many of them blind for many years.

They were successful in restoring the eyesight of 90 adults and children earlier this month in an ambitious endeavor undertaken by the Eye from Zion organization, Israel Hayom reported on Wednesday.

Eye from Zion is a volunteer Israeli-Jewish group established to provide medical treatment to underprivileged populations around the world. The organization sends delegations of experienced medical professionals and advanced equipment to places where they are needed most. The Eye from Zion delegations perform surgeries together with local medical teams and instruct local doctors on modern medical techniques.

The delegation, which included Dr. Yonina Ron from the pediatric ophthalmology team at Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Petah Tikva and Dr. Asher Milstein of Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot, arrived in Kyrgyzstan a week and a half ago to perform complicated procedures such as cornea surgery, plastic surgery, tumor removal and the treatment of cataracts in children.

Several patients are members of the Kyrgyzstani Jewish community, and the head of the Jewish community in the country said that the arrival of the Israeli delegation also contributed to elevating their status in the country.

Professor Dov Weinberger, head of the Ophthalmology Division at Rabin Medical Center in Petach Tikva and medical director of the Eye from Zion delegation, told Israel Hayom: “I get excited every time an Israeli delegation uses its knowledge and medical experience to restore people’s eyesight. Many patients remain blind only because the doctors in their countries do not possess the know-how or the modern means to perform these surgeries.”