Amal Al-Sibai

Saudi Gazette

 

A recent article in the local media about the heart rending story of a 17-year-old girl suffering from partial blindness brought attention to the disturbingly high prevalence of preventable blindness in the Kingdom. It also motivated some members of the community to take immediate action to help this young girl before it was too late and before she would lose her eyesight completely.



 In the small town of Qunfudah, Khayar Al-Kayadri was forced to discontinue her schooling due to increasing visual impairment, despite her excellent academic performance. Tragically, any hopes the family held onto for treatment were crushed last June when her father, the sole bread-winner of the family, died in a traffic accident. The family’s meager financial circumstances stood in the way of treatment and the illness continued to progress.   



In response to the moving story about the family’s struggle and as part of its social responsibility the Makkah Clock Royal Tower, a Fairmont Hotel, collaborated with Ebsar Foundation to help give Al-Kayadri the surgery she needed which her family could not afford. The joint team arranged for the young girl to receive treatment in a specialized hospital in Jeddah and to cover all travel, accommodation, and medical expenses. 

 

Both Makkah Clock Royal Tower and Ebsar Foundation are pleased to announce that the patient underwent successful corneal replacement surgery last month in one eye, and that she will undergo another operation in her second eye to complete her treatment. The plan is to remove Al-Kayadri’s bandages in front of the Grand Mosque, the most sacred and holiest place in the Muslim world so that the first image she opens her eyes to is the Ka’ba.



“About 80 percent of blindness worldwide is preventable or curable. There is no reason why any person should suffer from avoidable blindness, particularly if these reasons are tied to accessibility and affordability of treatment,” said Khaled Yamak, Regional Director of Communication for Fairmont Raffles Hotel-Makkah.



“Everyone has the right to fully appreciate and enjoy God’s glorious creation and beauty. We are very happy to have helped this young girl, and we look forward to seeing her graduate from school, grow, and succeed as a productive and inspirational member of society,” he added.  

 

A long term partnership has been agreed upon between Makkah Clock Royal Tower and Ebsar Foundation, which aims to empower and provide assistance to visually disabled individuals in the Kingdom, and to support programs that play a role in ending preventable blindness, especially among the disadvantaged communities.



Ebsar Foundation’s Secretary General, Mohammed Towfik Bellow whose life’s work is to improve the services offered to the visually impaired in the Kingdom, commented on the importance of forging lasting relationships between charitable foundations and private organizations and businessmen.



“By building partnerships with reputable companies that share our values, we can broaden the impact of our work and assist more people. Makkah Clock Royal Tower will continue joining efforts with Ebsar to implement the initiative of Vision 2020, to eliminate avoidable blindness,” said Billow.



There are around 200,000 persons suffering from blindness in the Kingdom. The leading causes of curable blindness in Saudi Arabia are cataracts, refractive errors, macular degeneration, and glaucoma, in which blindness can be staved off if these conditions are treated properly and early enough.



Saudi Arabia has signed the VISION 2020 Global Declaration, formed a national committee for prevention of blindness, participated in a Vision 2020 workshop and drafted a Vision 2020 national plan.