RIYADH, 10 March 2004 — A Saudi woman eye surgeon and an Indian eye specialist were honored for their services to the field of eye care at the combined meeting of the 17th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Saudi Ophthalmological Society (SOS) and the 21st Annual Symposium of the King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, held here yesterday.
The awards were presented by the President of the Saudi Ophthalmological Society (SOS), Prince Abdul Aziz ibn Ahmed to the Director Public Education Committee of the King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital (KKESH), Dr. Fatima Al-Mutlaq, and the founder and director of the L.V. Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad, Gullpalli N. Rao.
Prince Abdul Aziz said that the services of these two individuals should be internationally appreciated and he encouraged them to continue working for the prevention of blindness. “The purpose of this meeting is to foster bonds between family members of the Kingdom’s ophthalmology community and also to improve medical training and education for the purpose of increasing the numbers of competent ophthalmologists and optometrists,” the prince said.
On receiving the award, Dr. Fatima, who is also an executive board member of SOS, told Arab News she was elated by the honor and felt happy that her services had been appreciated.
She said that she had organized a Kingdomwide public awareness campaign in schools, universities and women’s societies about the cause and effects of blindness. “Most eye diseases are preventable and early diagnosis will be a great help to patients.”
Rao, who has published some 140 papers on the prevention of blindness, said Prince Abdul Aziz was a global ambassador for the prevention of blindness. He added that concerted efforts must be made at local and global levels to prevent blindness since the problem would only worsen if neglected.
