By James L. Davidian ’70

Alumni in Mission Service (AIMS) partners with mission organizations led by Loma Linda University School of Medicine alumni, such as Adventist International Eye Services (AIES), to increase reach and impact. To partner with us or learn more, visit llusmaa.org.

In the early 1980s, I formed Adventist International Eye Services (AIES) to provide ophthalmology services in Montemorelos, Mexico.

Over the next few decades, in addition to providing clinical eye care to the community, AIES built an ophthalmology training program based out of Montemorelos University. This program is now the largest private ophthalmology training program in Mexico, training physicians in comprehensive ophthalmology with eye surgical skills and providing subspecialty training in retina and glaucoma surgery. Through its network of 16 clinics throughout Mexico, AIES has extended access to eye care and trained over 200 ophthalmologists. AIES-trained ophthalmologists now serve in many parts of South and Central America, the Caribbean, and Africa.

In 2004, Gordon A. Miller ’75 started a similar program in Madagascar, an island country off the southeastern coast of Africa. Miller, then president of AIES, was moved by the depth of the population’s need for eye care. He started the Vision Institute of Madagascar (AIES-VIM) in Antananarivo, the country’s capital and largest city. Like the program in Montemorelos, Miller sought to provide education alongside clinical care. AIES-VIM started by providing non-surgical eye care and, over the past 20 years, has built up its capacity to offer comprehensive eye care and a complete surgical training program. The AIES-VIM clinic now has thirty staff members who assist eight physicians to see 2000 patients and perform 75 surgeries a month. The eye-care and surgical programs are self-sustaining, and AIES provides additional support for training, equipment, and infrastructure. The AIES-VIM training program now has three physicians in their second year and three post-graduate ophthalmologists training in advanced surgical skills.

Notably, AIES-VIM’s chief of ophthalmology, Solofo Georges, MD, is a graduate of AIES’s training program in Montemorelos.

In June 2024, AIES-VIM celebrated its 20th anniversary with a program attended by government officials and community members. In a ceremony that included traditional tribal music and dancing, AIES-VIM reflected on the accomplishments of the past 20 years. This included confidently opening a new era of service by signing a long-term lease on a six-acre site to expand its operations and by laying the cornerstone of its new building. This new building, situated in a highly visible location on a new major national road, will provide space for inpatient care, clinical eye care, teaching activities, and a cafeteria.

AIES’s impact in Africa has broadened beyond Madagascar, particularly in cataract surgery. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cataracts are a significant cause of blindness and visual impairment. WHO estimates that “only 17% of people with vision impairment due to cataracts have received access to an appropriate intervention.” ¹ Cataracts occur much earlier in tropical areas because of excess sunlight and poor nutrition. With rising life expectancy, the burden of vision impairment caused by cataracts is projected to increase. The international eye care community is committed to addressing this issue. However, there are not enough physicians with the appropriate training. AIES plans to expand its surgical training programs in Africa to meet the need.

Since its founding, AIES has continued to fulfill its mission of providing clinical care and clinically relevant training and education. We need your help and support to continue our work. In addition to building our new clinical facility, we are currently working on updating and replacing needed equipment for the AIES-VIM clinic. We also need more faculty. AIES-VIM invites all ophthalmologists, especially subspecialists, to serve as visiting professors in our program to supplement our local faculty. If you want to volunteer, please visit the LLUSM Alumni Association website for more information.

In a world where a simple surgery can restore sight, won’t you partner with us as we work to cure global blindness?  ν

Endnote

World Health Organization: WHO. “Blindness and Vision Impairment,” August 10, 2023. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/blindness-and-visual-impairment.

JAMES L. DAVIDIAN ’70 is an experienced ophthalmologist and a founder of Adventist International Eye Services (AIES), a charity that provides eye-care services as well as trains physicians to be ophthalmologists in Madagascar.

Published in the Fall/Winter 2024 ALUMNI JOURNAL.