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Dr Lawrence Azavedo, a consultant anaesthetist at the Royal Preston Hospital has returned from a two-week training programme in Bangladesh.
Using his annual leave, Azavedo decided to go to Bangladesh to share his vital skills with eye care professionals to help improve the quality of vision in Bangladesh.
His passion for inspiring and making a difference has led to his decade-long volunteer work with the international blindness prevention charity Orbis.
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Orbis works across the globe to expand eye care services to put treatment and prevention in place for people at risk or living with permanent blindness.
As it is said that worldwide 90% of vision loss cases are avoidable, the training Azavedo took on was focused on supporting local eye teams for more children and adults at risk of serious eye conditions.
The training took place both on board Orbis’ Flying Eye Hospital and at Orbis’ partner hospital Chittagong Eye Infirmary and Training Complex.
During the training, Orbis staff and medical volunteers guided local doctors and nurses in simulation and hands-on training, delivering care for patients with conditions such as cataracts.
Since 2006, Royal Preston Hospital Consultant Lawrence has taken part in sixteen Orbis programmes, in countries such as Vietnam, Uganda and Mongolia.
Lawrence describing his inspiring work said: “On the last day, the whole department thanked us for the two-week training.
“I then left Bangladesh with a smile knowing that I had made a difference.”
For more information on Orbis and their work visit here.
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