Shaare Zedek Physicians Head-Up Israeli Humanitarian Mission in Uzbekistan

Over the past several weeks, two senior eye doctors from the Department of Ophthalmology at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center have been operating a special “eye camp” in Uzbekistan. Organized in coordination with the Embassy of Israel in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, the project was an initiative of Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation. Dr. Yaakov Rozenman, Director of the Department of Ophthalmology at Shaare Zedek was joined by Dr. Amos Mazover, a senior physician from the Department. 

Over the course of their time in Uzbekistan, the doctors travelled from the capital, Tashkent, to a more remote location in the city of Ugrench. According to the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during the visit the team examined hundreds of patients and delivered presentations and lectures designed to help train the local Uzbek doctors. The doctors even performed complex surgical procedures aimed at alleviating the effects for patients suffering from cataracts and glaucoma. 

All the necessary equipment and medications used by the Jerusalem-based doctors for their work in Uzbekistan had been brought from Israel. Local Uzbek doctors were taught newly developed methods for eye-care, including approaches that were designed and manufactured in Israel.

This mission reflects the latest in a series of humanitarian efforts on the part of Shaare Zedek physicians around the globe. Most notably, senior Shaare Zedek medical personnel were dispatched as part of relief efforts in the wake of devastating earthquakes in Haiti and Japan.

“Shaare Zedek is increasingly being recognized as a provider of top-tier medicine around the world and we welcome initiatives such as these which enable our hospital to serve as a source of pride for the people and State of Israel,” said Uri Schwarz, Director of International Operations at Shaare Zedek.