WISH conference to focus on eye health

The World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) has announced ‘eye health’ as the first of nine research topics that will be the focus of next year’s global summit.
A report outlining the findings of the research will be published and presented during a panel discussion at WISH 2018, on November 13 and 14, in Doha.
The announcement of ‘eye health’ as a research topic was made during a visit by the Countess of Wessex, Sophie, to Sidra Medicine recently.
As global ambassador of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, Countess of Wessex recently visited Bangladesh to view the work of Orbis, a non-profit, non-governmental organisation that operates the world’s only accredited Flying Eye Hospital.
The charity runs programmes that focus on the prevention of blindness and the treatment of blinding eye diseases in developing countries, through hands-on training, public health education, advocacy, and partnerships.
The British royal was given a tour of the eye health facilities at Hamad Medical Corporation and Sidra Medicine by HE the Minister of Public Health Dr Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari.
Sultana Afdhal, acting CEO of WISH, met with the Countess of Wessex as well as Dr al-Kuwari during their visit to Sidra Medicine.
Dr Robert Walters, Orbis trustee, who accompanied Sophie on her visit to Qatar, commented, “As an ophthalmologist, I know the devastating impact a lack of access to eye care can have on people and their families. Orbis is about partnership and innovation – establishing new and improved ways to train people across the world to tackle avoidable blindness, whether through our Flying Eye Hospital, long-term programmes, or online mentoring platform Cybersight.”
WISH 2018 will gather the world’s healthcare leaders in Doha to highlight and address some of the world’s most pressing healthcare challenges. Groups of experts from around the world will work together to build evidence-based research on nine topics in the months leading up to the summit and will present their findings in reports that will be published in time for the event.