DHL Express and IAG Cargo, the British Airways-Iberia cargo business, will transport 1,900 kilosof needed surgical eye equipment to Kenya this month.
The goods transported to Lodwar Hospital in Turkana, north Kenya, include much neededmedication, eye drops, intraocular lenses, sutures, eyeglasses, sunglasses, as well as equipmentnecessary for cataract surgery. The hospital will also receive spare parts required for repairing amicroscope which can then be put back into operational use.
IAG Cargo, which will carry the shipment on behalf of DHL, has supported the programme for thepast four years.
“For the fourth consecutive year, DHL Express and IAG Cargo have collaborated to ensure the safeand reliable transportation of sensitive materials that require special transfer conditions. Thanksto this co-operation, in 2012 doctors on site in Turkana were able to provide medical care to over7,300 people and carry out 630 operations on these patients,” said Dr. Ciancas, ophthalmology teammember of the unit.
The items delivered, essential for the treatment of diseases like cataracts and trachoma, helpto prevent blindness in a large part of the local population that results from the absence ofproper medical care. The project, which aims to treat these potentially blinding diseases, issupported by the Missionary Community of Saint Paul the Apostle in Turkana as well as theFoundation Emalaikat, which manages the funding from its base in Spain.
IAG Cargo is the single business created by the merger of British Airways World Cargo and IberiaCargo in April 2011. In 2012, the operations of British Airways World Cargo and Iberia Cargo had ajoint turnover of €1,217 million. The companies’ combined workforce amounts to more than 2,700people covering a global network of over 350 destinations.
