ORBIS International's flagship Flying Eye Hospital has arrived in Harbin, China with its global team of volunteer eye care specialists and global Alliance for Sight partner, Alcon, Inc.

Invited by the Heilongjiang Provincial Government, Heilongjiang Provincial Health Bureau, and the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, ORBIS is conducting an intensive two-week program, from August 25 to September 5, focusing on training and equipping the next generation of Chinese eye care professionals and biomedical engineers. The ORBIS program in Harbin is being sponsored by Alcon.

At the request of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, the Flying Eye Hospital program will only train ophthalmic residency physicians, marking the first time in the plane's history that it has been used as a venue for resident training. During the course of the program, the ORBIS medical team will transfer sight-saving skills to approximately 40 ophthalmology residents using hands-on surgical training, live surgical demonstrations, lectures and workshops. The program will concentrate on the treatment and management of pediatric strabismus, glaucoma and cataract — China's leading cause of blindness. Residents will also benefit from clinics on retinal disease and neuro-ophthalmology and from wet lab and surgical simulator sessions.

It is estimated that half of the medical equipment located throughout the world does not function properly, and the equipment in China is no exception. Compounding the problem is that few opportunities exist for biomedical engineers and technicians to pursue continuing education in ophthalmic equipment maintenance and repair. Most biomedical engineers must seek training in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai.

To this end, ORBIS and Alcon biomedical engineering staff will conduct a workshop to provide hands-on training to nine biomedical engineers and technicians in the management and maintenance of ophthalmic equipment. In the process, the Alcon biomedical technicians and workshop attendees will work together to repair many pieces of equipment critical to the delivery of proper eye care, such as microscopes, slit lamps, indirect ophthalmoscopes, phaco machines and ultrasound equipment.

China has a blind population estimated at five to six million, which accounts for 18 percent of the world's blind. The major causes of blindness in China include cataract, childhood eye diseases, cornea diseases, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy.

Of the roughly 24,000 eye doctors in China, 70% to 80% of them work in urban hospitals. Unfortunately, 70% to 80% percent of the country's blind people live in rural areas. Coupled with resource constraints such as a lack of equipment, this disparity has resulted in people from remote rural areas having little or no access to quality eye care services.

For more than 25 years, Alcon has supported ORBIS' sight-saving programs and initiatives worldwide. In 2007, Alcon strengthened its commitment to ORBIS by renewing its global sponsor status for a further two-year period. This grant, of more than USD2.7 million, provides cash and medical gifts-in-kind. It also increases Alcon's support of training initiatives in developing countries through a combination of Flying Eye Hospital programs, hospital-based programs, fellowships and online Cyber-Sight telemedicine consultations.

Over the years, Alcon has donated state-of-the-art ophthalmic equipment, pharmaceuticals and supplies for the Flying Eye Hospital and its partner hospitals around the world, making it possible for ORBIS volunteer ophthalmologists to teach advanced surgical techniques to doctors in the developing world. Additionally the Alcon Volunteer Biomedical Corps, a dedicated group of Alcon biomedical technicians, participate in ORBIS training programs and share their skills with those in developing countries.

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