Wife of the Nigeria’s President Mrs. Aisha BuhariAisha, wife of President Muhammadu Buhari is set to use her pet project: the Aisha Buhari Foundation to embark on a four-year treatment of eyes and prevention programme, beginning from next year, in partnership with a United Arab Emirate (UAE) based Noor Dubai Foundation.
A statement by her spokesperson, Haruna Suleiman, said that the partnership was sealed at Dubai (UAE) before officials of the Foundation and Dubai Health Authority, with Aisha representing her Foundation and Humaid Al Qutami representing Noor Dubai Foundation.
The statement said that Aisha Buhari’s regular health screening exercises conducted by her Future Assured Programme across the country, provides checks for visual acuity, referral and glasses where necessary, with an average of 2,000 glasses provided for many Nigerians who could not afford glasses and would have lost their eyesight.
The President’s wife was quoted as saying that the partnership initiative would expand the number of beneficiaries and change many lives in Nigeria.
She added that the partnership would also directly impact on Nigerian government’s strategy on visual impairment.
The statement said that the Chairman of the Board and Director General of the Dubai Health Authority, and Chairman of Noor Dubai Foundation, Humaid Al Qutami, said that the foundation has so far benefited 25 million people around the world since its inception in 2008.
He added that by expanding their reach in Nigeria, Noor Dubai Foundation would be one of the world’s leading philanthropic foundations in the field of visual impairment through providing treatment and prevention services that are based on state-of-the-art technology and international standards.
Dubai Noor Foundation was recently in Kaduna where they screened 5,000 patients, gave glasses to 1,200 and conducted surgery for over 470 people.
Al Qutami announced that the implementation of the first medical programme specializing in eye diseases in Nigeria will begin next year.
As part of the programme, Noor Dubai Foundation aims to conduct more than 18,000 eye surgeries, screen more than 70,000 people suspected to suffer from eye disease and 4,000 who suffer from visual impairment and raise awareness about ocular impartment diseases and prevention among more than 1.5 million Nigerians.[myad]
