Eye Hospital receives instruments
Oberkochen, February 15, 2005. Carl Zeiss is donating instruments to the amount of US$100,000 for the reconstruction of the Eye Hospital in Nagapattinam located in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In December’s flood disaster, the hospital was completely washed out of existence. It is now to be totally rebuilt. Some of the instruments to be incorporated in the new building will be products from Carl Zeiss: two surgical microscopes, two slit lamps, and an autorefractor for measuring the refractive power of the eye.
“In a disaster of this magnitude, we wish to provide long-term aid and assistance. With our medical instruments we can provide lasting help to the people of the region,“ states Dr. Dieter Kurz, President and CEO of Carl Zeiss AG.
With over 15, 000 victims, Tamil Nadu is one of the regions most severely affected by the tsunami. Almost 6,000 people died in Nagapattinam alone. Thousands of people are still reliant on aid.
The Carl Zeiss sales organization in India established contact with the Eye Hospital in Nagapattinam. “Direct, on-site contact ensures that the donation reaches the right place,“ confirms Kurz.
The slit lamp and the autorefractor are produced by Carl Zeiss Meditec AG which specializes in solutions for the four main diseases of the eye: cataract, glaucoma, retinal disorders and defective vision. In the Nagapattinam hospital, about 1500 cataract operations are performed every year. Cataract is considered to be one of the most frequent causes of blindness worldwide.
The surgical microscopes are being provided by the Surgical Products Division, the world’s leading supplier of optical and digital visualization technologies for surgery.
The instruments supplied by other manufacturers include further special systems for ophthalmology such as an A-scan for the point-by-point length measurement of the eye, an operating chair, a phacoemulsification machine for shattering and extracting the natural lens of the eye, and a bipolar coagulation unit used to stop bleeding during surgery.
Contact for the press:
Marc Cyrus Vogel, Carl Zeiss AG
Vice President Corporate Communications,
73446 Oberkochen, Germany
Phone +49 7364 20-3242; Fax +49 7364 20-3122
Internet: http://www.zeiss.de/press.
PI No. 23/05
February 2005 |  E-Mail
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