Avastin Injections: Doctors Trained in New Techniques
Our NOOR Eye Care facilities are busy places–just last year, we distributed 25,988 pairs of glasses, saw 199,877 patients, and performed 10,566 surgeries. Despite the many services we provide, we see training as the key component of our work. We want to ensure that, through training, we can help to increase access to quality eye care throughout Afghanistan.
But what does that really look like?
The NOOR Eye Care Training Centre (NETC) and the Mazar Ophthalmic Centre (MOC), as training hospitals, focus on providing quality ophthalmic training and training our doctors in new techniques. That is why we recently had a visiting ophthalmologist; he came in to teach and train our doctors about retinal diseases and new techniques, such as Avastin injections, to treat them.
The truth is that retinal diseases are on the rise. In Kabul, both diabetes and high blood pressure are significant issues and are some of the main risk factors for retinal diseases.
Retinal diseases occur at the back of the eye and can include diabetic complications, macular degeneration, and vascular occlusions. Retinal diseases fit into the category of preventable blindness and are irreversible if left untreated. In addition, people may not be aware that they are having retinal issues until it is too late. That’s why it’s crucial that they can be screened for, diagnosed, and treated as soon as possible.
What did they learn?
As such, the teaching and training that our doctors received focused on diagnostic testing, interpreting test results, and knowing when and how to treat retinal diseases. Retinal diseases can be treated using Avastin, which is administered through injection. Avastin injections have already begun at NETC in Kabul, and will be starting soon at MOC as well. If it continues to go well, the work in retinal disease prevention and treatment could expand. By providing similar training to our doctors in other NOOR facilities, these techniques could become accessible throughout the country. Avastin injections are of particular importance because, until now, they have never been offered in public hospitals in Afghanistan.
By continuing to expand our services at NOOR, we can uphold IAM’s mission of “serving in partnership and hope to build capacity for the welfare of the people of Afghanistan.” Our hope is that by training our doctors in the diagnosis and treatment of retinal diseases, the knowledge can spread throughout Afghanistan’s eye care industry. Ultimately, we aim to provide hope for those suffering from retinal diseases that may have previously been viewed as untreatable.
If you are curious about our work in Eye Care and would like to learn more, click here.