Dato' Kulasegeran Sabaratnam, ORBIS board member visited ORBIS's first program of 2012 in Iloilo, Philippines this week. Dato' Kulasegeran Sabaratnam is also President, World Blind Union Asia Pacific.

He arrived to attend the opening ceremony and extend his thanks and gratitude to FedEx, the local hospital that ORBIS is partnering with, Western Visayas Medical Center, the local community and ORBIS staff for the work being done in Iloilo during the three week medical program.

In partnership with the Western Visayas Medical Center, the ORBIS medical team is conducting an intensive skills exchange program for eye care professionals and delivering sight-saving surgeries to pre-screened patients suffering from visual impairment.

On the third week, ORBIS will complement and reinforce this training by extending its medical program to include a Hospital-Based Program in Bacolod, in partnership with the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital. Dato' Kulasegeran Sabaratnam gave remarks at the Opening Ceremony, which was held just outside the Iloilo airport, alongside Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Sr; Rick Jennings, Managing Director of FedEx Philippines; Dr. Josefina Salazar-Yap of Western Visayas Medical Center and Dr. Jose Mari Fermin, Medical Center Chief of Western Visayas Medical Center.

His remarks reinforced ORBIS's mission to build capacity for quality eye care in the Philippines as we all work together toward reaching the goal of Vision 2020.