OTAL combats blindness with Sight Savers (20/05/03)
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OT Africa Line (OTAL), the specialist West African liner operator, has recently shipped free of charge a charity consignment of a Land Rover from the UK to Africa. The vehicle is destined for Sierra Leone where Sight Savers International, a charity operating in the world's poorest countries and combating blindness globally, is working with the Government to rebuild health systems shattered by ten years of civil war.

The Land Rover will revolutionise the work of the region's optical unit as it will provide access to the remote eastern province of the country. A youth group under the supervision of the Birmingham Youth Offending Team reconditioned the Land Rover prior to shipment. It was loaded at Felixstowe onboard Julie Delmas, a 1,693 TEU container vessel.

Sight Savers International has helped transform the lives of many blind and visually impaired people throughout the developing world. The organisation has contributed to restoring sight to 4.5 million people and treating 50 million for potentially blinding conditions.

OTAL's Marketing Manager, Rachel Bennett, elaborates on the partnership:

"OTAL is delighted to be able to help Sight Savers International in this project. The Land Rover will give the ophthalmic nurse access to thousands of adults and children who are in danger from potentially sight threatening diseases. It will further enable medical personnel to transport cataract patients to an eye hospital in the neighboring southern province for sight restoring surgery. It is a fact that we can make a real difference in the world and this is what drives OTAL in all the charity work we provide for Africa."

Sight Savers is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The charity organisation has changed the lives of a great many people in the world's poorest countries. Just to give an idea of the scale of its work and capacities: There are 45 million blind people in the world, in 80% of these cases blindness is totally preventable. That accounts for nearly 36 million people who have eye conditions that are curable. In cases of irreversible blindness, Sight Savers helps improve the sufferer's quality of life. In 2002 the organisation supported the screening of over 4.5 million people for sight related problems and facilitated over 175,000 cataract operations.

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