Following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, an NHS Lothian doctor has set his sights on distributing donations to his Eastern European counterparts.
Dr Peter Cackett, Consultant Ophthalmologist, Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion, set about trying to gather ophthalmic equipment and supplies that could be delivered to the country. Other organisations, along with NHS Lothian, rallied round to pull together a list of items to help both children and adults alike in Ukraine.
Items included specialist lights and cameras for ophthalmic examinations and vision tests for testing the sharpness of vision in young children who cannot yet read. The equipment was distributed to all three hundred and twenty paediatric ophthalmology departments in Ukraine, as requested by Professor Sergiy Rykov, President of the Association of Paediatric Ophthalmologists of Ukraine, Kyiv.
Also a trustee of the charity Ophthalmic Aid to Eastern Europe (OAEE), Dr Cackett stored the equipment in his home, arranging for heavier items to be collected during the journey to Medyka, a village at the Polish / Ukrainian border for handover of the donations to ophthalmologists from Lviv.
OAEE was established over 30 years ago, after the fall of the Berlin wall, and helps centres in Eastern Europe with ophthalmic equipment, whilst also supporting teaching and training initiatives for ophthalmologists in Eastern and Central Europe.
The donations were delivered to Ukraine overland, by van, by two final year medical students from Edinburgh and Dundee universities, Wesley McLoughlin and Doireann Hughes, following in the footsteps of a group of medical students that delivered ophthalmic aid to Lviv 30 years ago in 1993.
Dr Cackett, Consultant Ophthalmologist, NHS Lothian said: “I felt that it is was important to help the Ukrainian ophthalmologists as I had previously helped take ophthalmic aid to Lviv, Ukraine in 1993, whilst I was a medical student. Dr Andriy Hudz, the junior doctor in Lviv, who we delivered the aid to in 1993 is now Professor of the department there.
“The Ukrainian ophthalmologists are delighted with the equipment which has been sent. I have started collecting equipment again to deliver more ophthalmic aid to Ukraine and have been trying to source financial donations to help pay for the transportation.
“We are also looking into potentially providing some assistance to Lasi, a city in Romania where Ukrainian refugees have been arriving and also Moldova. We also want to re-establish observerships for Ukrainian ophthalmologists to come to Edinburgh to receive further training.”
