Princess Basma opens new branch of Shami Eye Centre in Aqaba

AMMAN — HRH Princess Basma on Wednesday opened a new branch of the Shami Eye Centre in Aqaba and checked on patients treated for free at the clinic under a partnership with the Goodwill Campaign (GWC), which the princess chairs.

The partnership, launched five years ago, aims to provide eye care and treatment to persons from underprivileged families across the Kingdom. Over the past few days, 20 individuals from the southern region underwent free-of-charge eye treatments at the centre, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The GWC, a flagship programme of the Jordan Hashemite Fund for Human Development’s (JOHUD), now provides long-term and sustainable support, medical and emergency assistance, improved shelter, in addition to interventions aimed at empowering poverty-stricken groups.

Princess Basma said she “cherishes the targeted humanitarian partnerships between the campaign and the Jordanian private medical sector, to serve patients whose economic conditions deny them access to the necessary medical care”.

The princess thanked the medical and nursing staff who oversaw the treatment of the GWC-sponsored patients and followed up on them until they made a full recovery and returned to their families.

The medical services provided to patients of the GWC in private medical institutions, including the Shami Eye Centre, are a “quantum leap” in their lives, putting an end to their suffering, and enabling them to lead their lives normally, the princess said.

Princess Basma praised the Jordanian private medical sector, which, along with the public sector, provides advanced medical care to patients, and at the same time reflects Jordan’s reputation in this field at the regional and international levels.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Shami Eye Centre Omar Shami said that the centre is committed to participating in campaigns and free medical days organised by the campaign in various regions of the Kingdom.

He stressed that the centre is committed to its partnership with the charity campaign to serve its humanitarian goals and mission and to provide optimal treatment for patients.

Omar Zou’bi, an ophthalmologist at the centre, said that the operations that the patients underwent at the clinic included corneal cross-linking and cataract surgeries.