Annually for the last 10 years the three Rotary Clubs in the Beaufort area ( Beaufort Rotary, Sea Island Rotary, and Low Country Rotary ) have financially sponsored a young ophthalmologist from a developing world country to visit Beaufort and attend the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology which this year was held in Chicago. Special thanks this year to Alicia Taylor, president of Beaufort Rotary and Dick Bowen, president Low Country Rotary. This national Rotary program has young ophthalmologists visiting local Rotary clubs all over America.
All of these young ophthalmologists are leaders in their respective countries to reduce the amount of avoidable / preventable / neglected blindness. Ninety percent of all blindness ( 40 million ) are in developing countries. Over 20 million persons are bilaterally blind due to dense mature cataracts. Many of these patients will die blind for want of a cataract operation.
This year our ophthalmic guest was Emil Huseynov MD from Azerbaijan. Dr Huseynov is a member of the ophthalmic trauma team for his entire country. These ophthalmologists from all over the world are making a significant contribution in the reduction of blindness in the developing world.
Photo shows from right to left: Rion Salley, current Sea Island president, D.C.Gilley, previous president; Emil Huseynov MD ; Baxter McLendon MD; and Ed Duryea, district governor.
