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Ambassador Rodley and Dr. Chantha Chak from USAID Phnom Penh meet with Mr. Christopher Raymond and scientists at Pailin minilab.
Ambassador Visits Pailin Eye Camp And Minilab
Pailin Referral Hospital
July 09, 2009
Ambassador Carol A. Rodley observed a live cataract operation on July 9 during her visit to the International Resources for the Improvement of Sight (IRIS) eye camp at the Pailin Referral Hospital last Thursday. IRIS is a small, independent organization that specializes in prevention of blindness and restoration of sight, offering needy patients free check-up and operation services.
The Ambassador learned about the organization’s successful patient recruitment, treatment, and care process in a discussion with IRIS administrator Kat Anthony. “The recruitment process occurs in collaborating with outreach through the Ministry of Health,” said Ms. Anthony. “Patients identified with needing surgery receive a stipend to cover their travel and accommodation expenses if they live far away from the eye camp. One day after surgery they receive post-operation follow-up, care, and cleaning. One week after surgery they are scheduled for another check-up for a follow-up.”
During the three-day eye camp in Pailin the surgeon was scheduled to operate on a total of 72 patients. The IRIS team generally consists of four members, a surgeon, an assistant doctor, a nurse, and a driver for patients requiring transportation assistance.
Since December 2008, the combined total of IRIS clinic and eye camp programs since its inception in Cambodia had resulted in 125,319 people receiving eye examinations and 23,485 surgeries being performed free of charge, 15,291 of which were to remove cataracts.
In addition to her visit to the IRIS eye camp, Ambassador Rodley visited Pailin’s Drug Quality Testing Minilab, also located at Pailin Referral Hospital. The minilab is funded by the U.S. Government through USAID in Phnom Penh and is currently managed by a USAID partner in Bangkok, Thailand.
By meeting with local scientists and Christopher Raymond, U.S. Pharmacopeia Project Coordinator for Southeast Asia, Ambassador Rodley learned about the threat of increasing anti-malaria medicine resistance and the critical need to examine drugs sold locally in Pailin.
Mr. Raymond explained that testing the quality of drugs is essential to the regional health of western Cambodia because there is increasing resistance to the world’s strongest anti-malaria drug, artemisinin. The problem is compounded by the number of counterfeit pharmaceutical drugs trafficked through the Thai-Cambodian border.
If left unaddressed, the spread of resistance to anti-malaria medicines can be devastating especially in Africa, where malaria already kills over one million people per year.
