Abu Dhabi Eye Hospital Dispatches $1 Million Sight-Saving Aid Package to Gaza

Thousands of patients awaiting sight-saving surgery in Gaza are set to receive urgent eye care through a new humanitarian aid shipment arriving from the UAE. Valued at about $1 million, the supplies include ophthalmic medicine, consumables, and diagnostic equipment intended to treat 5,000 patients currently on waiting lists for preventable blindness.

The shipment is scheduled to arrive in the enclave this week from the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Abu Dhabi, with delivery facilitated by the Emirates Red Crescent group. The medical aid will be directed to St John Eye Hospital in Gaza, where patients have experienced optical care delays exceeding six months due to severe supply shortages.

“For more than six months our teams in Gaza have worked without the supplies they need to treat thousands of patients at risk of losing their sight,” said Dr Ahmad Maali, chief executive of St John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital Group. “We are grateful to Bascom Palmer Eye Institute Abu Dhabi and to the Emirates Red Crescent for helping move this equipment and medical supplies towards the patients waiting for it.”

Ophthalmic care remains one of the most critical gaps to fill during a crisis, requiring specialized medicine, consumables, and diagnostic equipment that cannot be easily substituted. This latest UAE aid consignment addresses this specialized need within the ongoing humanitarian effort in Gaza, where more than 2,000 patients with diabetes urgently require retinal laser treatment to prevent permanent vision loss.

The delivered supplies include 10 boxes of surgical sutures, 600 boxes of gauze, and 600 surgical gowns. The Emirates Red Crescent noted that no medical supplies or equipment had reached the facility in over six months.

“The Emirates Red Crescent gives us a trusted, proven route to put specialist ophthalmic supplies into the hands of the people in Gaza who need them most,” stated Dr Zain Kenderian, chief executive of Bascom Palmer Eye Institute Abu Dhabi. “The supplies are ready. What matters now is that they reach the clinicians in Gaza who are waiting to use them.”