Great News!

Sights on Health, Inc. is celebrating its ten-year anniversary since their first cataract surgical mission to Peru by returning to Calca in the Sacred Valley, October 14-23, 2022 for its first cataract surgical mission since the start of the pandemic.

• It will be a smaller group than in years past- a team of 13 people will transport via commercial airlines donated surgical supplies for 50 sight restoring surgeries, along with equipment to set up a portable eye clinic and operating room in a local health outpost in the remote village of Calca in the Sacred Valley, Peru.

• Sights on Health is working with the Peruvian Ministry of Health, FNE International, Asociacion Winaypaq, Ceprece -Cusco Eye Clinic, Yanapana Peru, Alcon & Surgical Eye Expeditions to provide sight restorative cataract surgery to the underserved indigenous population, free of charge.

• Pre-screening by our Peruvian team for surgical patients in remote villages in the Andes Mountains has already begun.

• We are accepting monetary donations to purchase specific surgical supplies still needed. All donations are tax deductible.

Thank you in advance to our supporters who enable Sights on Health to give the gift of sight.

Donate

Please don’t hesitate to contact us for additional information.

Background on the lives of Drs. Philip and Richard Messina
Philip came to the U.S.A. through Ellis Island, N.Y. in 1911 at 6 years old from Sicily, Italy. He lived in the lower east side of Manhattan and somehow he made his way out to Indiana University for undergraduate school and medical school. He finished his studies in 1932 in the midst of the Depression, his older sister worked at Knickerbocker Toy Factory sewing stuffed animals to pay for his education. Residency training programs were not in existence at the time. Once a doctor graduated medical school, one would open an office and start your practice whether it was General Surgery or General Medicine. He chose the latter and his practice was in Brooklyn for over 50 years, he delivered 3,000 babies, performed tonsillectomies in the office and made house calls well past the time when other physicians has stopped. His compassion for his patients and his work ethic certainly inspired his son to become a physician and his daughter to become a nurse.

Richard attended Marquette University in Wisconsin and graduated medical school from University of Bologna in Italy in 1965. Prior to his ophthalmology residency, he enlisted in the Public Health Service as a commissioned officer for two years. Stationed in Albuquerque, New Mexico he worked as a General Practitioner on the surrounding Indian Reservations. He gained an appreciation for the Native American culture and the need for better health care in underserved areas. He established his ophthalmology practice in Brentwood and continued to be passionate about treating those that were underserved. He was a Clinical Instructor at Stony Brook School of Medicine until his untimely passing at the age of 48. His dedication to serve those in need, inspired the Messina family to establish a scholarship in his name that promotes global awareness of the need to provide health care to the underserved populations in the United States and worldwide. And he was the inspiration for Debra Messina, M.D. to co-found the nonprofit organizations A Promise to Peru.

Three generations of Messina physicians… it is something to be celebrated and this Endowed Fund for Excellence in Global Initiatives was specifically established for the Stony Brook family where Debra is a proud alumna. It is a fitting way to remember these two lives. The would be very proud to know that their family was assisting medical students and ophthalmology residents in the opportunity to gain
greater insight into the interpersonal relationships that are formed between physician and patient. Their legacy of service to those in need and their passion for medicine will live on and serve to provide an example to young physicians in training, now and for future generations.

November 26, 2018; Stony Brook School of Medicine, Stony Brook, NY

Last month, for our surgical eye mission to Ecuador, jetBlue graciously flew 700 pounds of surgical supplies for us, free of charge. Thanks to their support, our organization saved over $1,000 in luggage fees. Thank you jetBlue!

JetBlue’s mission is to inspire humanity – both in the air and on the ground. We are committed to giving back in meaningful ways in the communities we serve and to inspire others to do the same.

JetBlue Airways exists to provide superior service in every aspect of our customer’s air travel experience. In order to reaffirm this commitment, we set forth this Bill of Rights for our customers.

To read about our surgical eye mission to Riobamba, Ecuador click here!

We published an ad in Paccli to congratulate Julia!

Photo source nyit.edu Aslam places an IV line on a patient waiting for cataract surgery in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

Meet Usman Aslam, Presidential Global Fellow

“The best part of going on medical missions is being able to see the immediate effects of my work helping people,” says Usman Aslam. In June 2015, Aslam embarked on his fourth international medical mission—a trip to Guayaquil, Ecuador, which was funded by an NYIT Presidential Global Fellowship.

In Ecuador, Aslam volunteered for seven days with health care professionals mobilized by the nonprofit A Promise To Peru. Aslam was part of a team that performed more than 400 medical screenings and ultrasounds, 725 visual acuity tests, and 128 cataract surgeries (75 percent of the patients were legally blind). They donated supplies and services worth more than $434,100.

Read the full article here.