Elissar News

As a continuation of the cooperation and support of the Czech Republic to the Rafik Hariri University Hospital (RHUH), the Czech embassy in Beirut has launched a campaign to provide cataract surgeries. A Czech medical team deployed to RHUH in the past two weeks provided these surgeries in cooperation with Amel Association International. 

This is not the first time the Czech embassy, RHUH, and Amel Association has combined efforts to provide these cataract surgeries. The first MEDEVAC mission in Lebanon was conducted in 2019 and was a great success, as 83 patients were operated on. As the MEDEVAC programme aims to support marginalized communities, its main beneficiaries are socially disadvantaged Lebanese and refugees who otherwise would have no access to such treatment. The outreach and identification process of these beneficiaries was done by the Amel Association team. 

During these operations, the Czech medical team used a new ophthalmological apparatus that was donated to the Rafik Hariri University Hospital by the Czech Republic through the MEDEVAC programme that allows them to meet the already high and still increasing demand of services from both vulnerable Lebanese and refugee communities. 

The MEDEVAC is a permanent medical humanitarian programme of the Czech Republic active since 1993. It shares the same vision as Amel: to provide free primary healthcare services to marginalized communities in a non-discriminatory manner while preserving their respect and dignity..  

Additional Cooperation 

Aside from the MEDEVAC programme, the Czech Republic donated 6 special birthing beds and 6 baby cribs for new-born babies to RHUH earlier this year as well as 3 electrocoagulation machines to the obstetrical department of the hospital as part of a programme “Humanitarian reaction to Covid -19 pandemic.” The Czech Embassy in Beirut recognized RHUH as the best candidate for this program, as RHUH is the central public hospital in Beirut and primarily serves underprivileged peoples. Also, during the pandemic, it has become a central hospital for the management and treatment of Covid 19 patients.  

Furthermore, after the disastrous blast in the Beirut port on 4 August 2020 a medical material and supplies was provided by the Czech Republic to the RHUH to ease the burden and damage that it incurred