KAREN EARNSHAW
How’s your eyesight? Are things a little fuzzy these days? Colors don’t look so bright?
Help is on the way because the Ministry of Health will be hosting a Canvasback Missions Ophthalmology Team at Majuro Hospital from January 25 to February 9.
To become a patient, a person needs to be pre-screened as soon as possible by Dr. Hemant Pathak at Majuro hospital.
This news comes from long-time friend of the Marshall Islands Jacque Spence, the co-founder of Canvasback Missions, which has been providing medical services in the Marshall Islands since 1986.
“We are so excited to be able to bring the gift of sight and healing,” she said. “Dr. David Gano and his team, who were here in 2019, are prepared to provide 200 cataract surgeries.”
The team also includes Dr. Jeffrey Ing, a corneal specialist, who lived in the Marshall Islands as a teenager. “Jeff’s Dad, Clarence Ing, was the hospital’s Medical Director in 1981-82,” Jacque said. “Jeff helped his father at the hospital, which inspired him to become an ophthalmologist.” He is currently Chief of Opthamology at the Guam SDA clinic.
Regarding pre-screening, Jacque said that if someone has a cloudy cornea in an eye that doesn’t see well, they must go and see Dr. Hemant Pathak in the next few days in case surgery will be required.
For more information on the upcoming eye care mission, you can contact the Majuro Ophthalmology Department.