The Peninsula

DOHA: Qatar’s award-winning airport, Hamad International Airport (HIA), is hosting a booth in partnership with global eye health charity Orbis to raise awareness about the importance of providing care to those with avoidable eye conditions.

The booth has also been launched in celebration of the sight-saving support that the nation of Qatar provides through funding to screen and treat children across India and Bangladesh. This awareness raising activity is a part of the inaugural Doha Healthcare Week, enabling HIA to reach people around the world and inspire the airport’s passengers to learn more about preventable eye conditions.

Passengers travelling through the international hub have the opportunity to visit the booth over the course of the next three weeks, take a virtual tour of the Orbis Flying Eye Hospital - a one of a kind teaching facility on board an MD-10 aircraft featuring an operating theatre, lecture theatre and recovery room, and find out more about the Qatar Creating Vision initiative.

Funded by the Qatar Fund for Development and implemented by Orbis, the initiative is on track to deliver an impressive 5.6 million eye care treatments to children across India and Bangladesh by mid-2020.

Engr. Badr Mohammed Al Meer, Chief Operating Officer of Hamad International Airport said, “HIA is delighted to support Orbis for the 4th consecutive year. The Orbis booth is a testament to the airport’s commitment to function as a global platform for initiatives that aid and empower global populations. Our objective is to raise awareness around a very difficult reality— that numerous blindness and visual impairment cases are a result of conditions that are either treatable or preventable.”

“We hope to inspire the thousands of passengers that travel through our airport daily to learn more about preventable and treatable eye conditions, as well as the support the nation of Qatar has provided for blind and visually-impaired communities,” he added.

Rebecca Cronin, Chief Executive at Orbis UK said, “All of us at Orbis are extremely grateful for the Qatar Fund for Development’s generosity and Hamad International Airport for once again giving us this global platform to raise vital awareness of the importance of providing quality eye care.”

As part of Doha Healthcare Week’s diverse programme of community-driven and health-related activities in Qatar, Qatar Airways is also hosting the Orbis Flying Eye Hospital for private tours and medical workshops.

With more than two million passengers travelling through the international hub every month, the booth enables Orbis to engage a global audience, inspiring and encouraging them to get on-board and discover more about the Qatar Creating Vision initiative.

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