Mrs Ala’ Mansour, Qalqilya, June 2011

Mrs Ala’ Ibrahim Mansour lives in Qalqilya, the administrative centre of the Qalqilya Governorate.  Bordering the Tulkarm Governorate, where our Anabta Clinic is situated, Qalqilyah is almost completely surrounded by the Israeli Separation Wall. 

No town in the West Bank suffers more restrictions than Qalqilya. The wall separates the population from its farmland and source of income.  Many checkpoints also surround the town, further impeding movement.  The area is monitored by Machsom Watch, a group of Israeli women who oppose the denial of Palestinians’ rights to move freely. 

21 year old Mrs Mansour went to school until she was 10.  Married young, she has not seen her husband – who is stranded in Gaza – for four years. 

With a history of hospitalizations from the age of 11, when she came to our Outreach Clinic in Qalqilya in June, her blurred visual acuity pointed to a diagnosis of suspected Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy.

Diabetic retinopathy affects up to 80% of all patients who have had diabetes for 10 years or more.  Despite this, research shows that new cases could be reduced by 90% if there were proper and vigilant treatment and monitoring of the eyes.  Our Outreach Team performed a complete assessment, including refraction and a fundal (interior surface) examination.  They then arranged for Mrs Mansour to travel to Anabta for laser treatment and further management.

Treatment is on-going, and Mrs Mansour is relieved that her condition was discovered before it worsened.  Once vision is lost to diabetic retinopathy, it cannot be recovered: “I am so excited and happy that someone will take care of my eyes and will prevent them from getting worse.  I am sure now that I will not be blind.”

Mrs Mansour’s story is not a singular one.  As there is no screening programme for diabetic retinopathy in the OPT – and only rudimentary screening for diabetes – around 160,000 Palestinians suffering from retinopathy will be in danger of losing their sight altogether.  So far, only around 11,000 present for treatment at our facilities each year. 

Mrs Mansour is the reason why our efforts to initiate a screening programme for diabetic retinopathy in the region are so vitally important.