VISION 2020 LINKS Programme: the Madagascar-Leeds LINK

Madagascar is a fascinating and culturally rich island which has an ‘exotic’ status in most people’s eyes. Yet it is among the poorest countries in the world. According to the World Bank, 92% of the population live on less than...

The Makassar-Dundee VISION 2020 LINK: a tale of two cities and two trainees

A resident’s view from Makassar My name is Hendra Kusuma, a final year resident (registrar) in the ophthalmology department at Hasanuddin University in Makassar, Indonesia. We have had a VISION 2020 LINK with Dundee (coordinated at the UK end by...

Students, soccer and slit-lamps in Ethiopia: a VISION 2020 LINK

Wachemo University campus. The Ethiopian Government is well aware of the brain drain amongst health workers and, to compensate, is training huge numbers of medical students, nurses and health officers in universities like Wachemo, a massive new University near Hosanna...

The Gambia-Swansea VISION 2020 LINK: building eye care services and international friendships

History The VISION 2020 LINK between the Sheikh Zayed Regional Eye Care Centre (SZRECC), Banjul, The Gambia and the Ophthalmology Department, Singleton Hospital, Swansea started in 2008 under the guidance of the VISION 2020 LINKS Programme at the International Centre...

VISION 2020 LINKS Programme: Reviewing the first ten years and announcing the new diabetic retinopathy initiative

The VISION 2020 LINKS Programme celebrates its 10th anniversary next month. Over the past decade it has achieved its objective of building capacity for eye care in developing countries, particularly in Africa, by establishing long-term training partnerships between institutions, known...

The invisible touch: a VISION 2020 LINK with Indonesia

Indonesia’s population, the world’s fourth largest, is spread across 6,000 inhabited islands. Whilst some areas (e.g. Kalimantan, Papua) are relatively sparsely populated, Java is the world’s most densely populated island, with twice the population of the UK in half the...

Guildford Rotary Eye Project

Guildford Rotary Eye Project (GREP) was conceived and implemented during the last 15 years with the sole aim to motivate and empower host Rotary clubs in India and Africa to resolve their problems with their own money. International partners in...