LONG-TERM COMMITMENT

ESCRS president Roberto Bellucci has announced that the society will continue to support Orbis and Oxfam during the two years of his presidency. “Our support of Orbis and Oxfam continues to be very rewarding,” said Dr Bellucci, “and it is a very important part of the society's activities. “I am delighted to announce our continuing support for the Orbis and Oxfam projects for a further two years and I look forward to building on the work we have done to date.

“We donated €35,435 to the two charities in 2013 thanks to the generous contributions from ESCRS members, in addition to a contribution from the society,” said Dr Bellucci. “We will make a further donation in 2014 to Orbis and Oxfam from donations through registrations at our 18th Winter Meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia and the XXXII Congress of the ESCRS in London,” he said.

Dr Bellucci told EuroTimes that the ESCRS had a long-term commitment to charitable work and it would be making a further announcement about its future plans at the XXXII Congress of the ESCRS in London.

ORBIS GONDAR PROJECT
ESCRS is supporting Orbis in its work with the Gondar University Hospital to establish a Child Eye Health Tertiary Facility (CEHTF) for North West Ethiopia from 2011 to 2015 and the development of a paediatric eye-care team.

“We would like to say a heartfelt thank you to ESCRS for its continued support for Orbis’s work in Gondar and specifically for providing the sponsorship of our paediatric ophthalmologists,” said an Orbis spokesman. "Such support is vital for making a lifechanging difference to the lives of many children, like Mulawu, all across Ethiopia. ESCRS is not only giving back sight, but allowing these children the opportunity to learn, earn and fulfil their potential.”

OXFAM WASH PROGRAMME
Limited access to safe water leading to poor hygiene and the spread of disease is a reality frequently faced by poorer rural communities or refugees living in over-crowded conditions. It leads to a variety of diseases including; onchocerciasis (river blindness), typhoid, guinea worm, schistosomiasis, malaria and trachoma, an infection of the eyes that may result in blindness after repeated re-infections.

“These diseases can be successfully combatted by good personal and environmental hygiene and we are grateful for the ESCRS's support of Oxfam’s Water and Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion (also known as WASH) programme in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2013,” said an Oxfam spokesman.

HOW TO DONATE
ESCRS members and delegates can donate directly through registration for the XXXII Congress of the ESCRS in London.