First-ever modern eye clinic in Nzara, South Sudan, ceremonially opened

With great personal commitment, the ophthalmologist Dr. Andreas Dittrich, sponsored by the German Committee for the Prevention of Blindness (DKVB) and the Stiftung Augenlicht foundation, has planned and realised a modern eye clinic in South Sudan. The clinic was built in Nzara, about 20 km north of the regional capital Yambio, on the grounds of the Catholic St. Therese Hospital with the support of the local diocese. It was ceremonially opened on 27 November in the presence of church dignitaries and political celebrities.

The inauguration was preceded by an adventurous container transport with needed equipment and consumables to this country with little infrastructure and extremely bad road conditions. Several truck breakdowns and a drivers' strike at the Ugandan border did the rest. In the end, there was only one day to unload, unpack and set up everything. Just in time.

At the opening ceremony, South Sudan's vice president for service cluster stressed that the country did not have enough eye clinics, which has so far forced many South Sudanese to travel abroad, e.g. to Nairobi and Khartoum, for eye treatment. He added that the new modern eye clinic in Nzara was thus a blessing for the people of Western Equatoria State and, by extension, the whole of South Sudan.

Barely three days later, patients were examined and subsequently operated on by cataract surgeon Ambroise Soungouza. He is one of only three ophthalmologists in the country, where Nzara is now the second major eye clinic to also operate.

Congratulations!

Hectic unloading of the container

Dr Dittrich examining a patient at the slit lamp

Ambroise Soungouza's first operations with the FLAIR P6 microscope

Satisfied protagonists (from left to right): Dr Andreas Dittrich, Ambroise Soungouza and Dr Raimund Balmes (Stiftung Augenlicht)