The Ministry of Health, in partnership with the Marrakech International Film Festival Foundation and the Hassan II Ophthalmology Foundation, is organising a medico-social cataract surgery campaign until 9 April.

The medico-social cataract surgery campaign in the Laâyoune Sakia Al Hamra region is targeting more than 300 beneficiaries, confirmed the regional director of the Ministry of Health, Rochdi Qadar. This free campaign, initiated until 9 April by the Ministry of Health in partnership with the Marrakech International Film Festival Foundation (FIFM) and the Hassan II Ophthalmology Foundation, will benefit the region's population and is part of the Ministry's 2012-2016 strategy to combat cataracts, he stated. Targeting the underprivileged population in the provinces of Laâyoune, Boujdour, Smara and Tarfaya, this initiative is also part of the continuous training of medical and paramedical staff, he said, noting that eight advanced surgical operations have been performed to date under the supervision of a medical staff composed of professors from the Ibn Sina University Hospital in Rabat.

The campaign also provides an opportunity for local medical staff to learn about new technologies used in the field of surgery, especially since sophisticated equipment has been used. Supervised by a medical staff composed of 15 professors and ophthalmologist practitioners, members of the Hassan II Ophthalmology Foundation, and three doctors from the Hassan II Hospital of Specialties in Laâyoune, this campaign aims to provide medical care and perform surgical operations for a total of more than 180 hours.

Also mobilising a paramedical staff including 30 nurses and nursing assistants, the campaign also provides for medical consultations and operations for children suffering from strabismus and cataracts. This humanitarian initiative, in which actors Rachid El Ouali and Dounia Boutazout are participating, represents a major cultural event, allowing the population of the Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra region to follow the latest productions of Moroccan cinema, especially as films will be screened via the cinematographic caravan, in partnership with the Moroccan Cinematographic Centre. The FIFM Foundation organises two cataract surgical campaigns annually, which have so far covered the regions of Marrakech (2009-2010), Rabat and Tiflet (2011), Tata and Guelmim (2012), Demnate and Tahanaout (2013), Dakhla and Tahanaout (2014) in addition to Berkane and Khénifra (2015).

Sponsored by talents from various backgrounds, the cataract surgery campaign has benefited in the past from the solemn support of renowned artists, such as, notably, Hélène de Fougerolles, Youssra, Marie Gillain, Sridevi, Aziz Dades, Asmae Khamlichi, Khadija Assad and Aziz Saadallah.