Twelve specialists from the Bali Udayana University in Indonesia recently travelled to Timor-Leste to perform cleft lip and eye surgery, as well as provide free medical consultations, at the National Hospital of Guido Valadares (NHGV) in Dili.
President of the university Alumni Association Brigida Correia said the visit was arranged to commemorate the 54th anniversary of Udayana University.
She said the celebration was held in Timor-Leste as there was already an alumni association and therefore it had been easy to make the arrangements.
“We are proud as there are a number of alumni (from Udayana University) holding important positions in Timor-Leste, including the Prime Minister (Rui Maria de Araujo), therefore they chose to celebrate in Timor,” she said.
The operations were performed in one day as the specialists had only limited time.
Correia said other activities included a traditional fair, visits to vulnerable families in Liquisa municipality and school visits in other rural areas.
On the other hand, the head of the National Eye Center (NEC), Belmerio Jeronimo, said the visiting specialists were very experienced and often treated referral patients in Bali.
“It does not mean that our doctors have no capacity, but they (the specialists) are here to implement their activities and we trust them to do these operations,” he said.
He said the specialists performed surgery on six patients, most of whom had cataracts and were aged over 50.
