The President of the Teaching Eyes Surgery (TES) Foundation of Switzerland, Professor Cyrus Tabatabay, paid a courtesy call on the Prime Minister, Mr Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, this afternoon, at the New Treasury Building, in Port Louis. He was accompanied by the Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Kailesh Kumar Singh Jagutpal.
In a statement following the courtesy call, Professor Tabatabay highlighted those discussions with the Prime Minister focused on the future of ophthalmic surgeon training in Mauritius. Mauritius, he underlined, has a highly prevalent diabetic population requiring either laser or more complex surgical treatment and these require extensive training. On this score, he added that the number of surgeons being trained is limited, thus, the next generation of surgeons needs to be trained for their profession.
Furthermore, the Professor emphasised that more importantly discussions focused on the creation of a training centre in Mauritius, to be set up partly at the Souillac Eye Hospital so as to allow the treatment of the population in the south region as well as to reduce patient overload at the Subramania Bharathi Eye Hospital in Moka.
He underscored that the Prime Minister, along with the Minister of Health and Wellness, expressed hope for the setting up of this training centre as an international pole of competence for other Islands of the Indian Ocean who do not necessarily have the same amenities as in Mauritius. Islands such as the Comoros or Madagascar can thus eventually come and observe how the treatment is dispensed in Mauritius and propose same in their countries, Professor Tabatabay added.
This centre, he indicated, will provide, among others, training for the creation of a new generation of young eye surgeons so that they become high level specialists and are able to in turn transmit their knowledge to others.
The Professor stated that the works will be starting on Monday 17 January 2022 adding that the Foundation has already provided the Ministry of Health and Wellness with equipment and has brought surgeons from New York and Switzerland notably, who have done adjustments so that the centre is built to the same level as that of Switzerland. These works will go on for a period of three to five years, he concluded.
