'Wish Politics Takes A Back Seat': Mumbai-Based Doctor Who Operated On Pakistani Patient In Sri Lanka

In a heartwarming news that has surfaced, a doctor, situated in Mumbai restored the eye-sight of his patient who was situated in Columbo, Sri Lanka. According to TOI, this became an example of South Asian Regional Co-operation.

What was the incident?

A Pakistani patient failed to get and an Indian medical visa despite following up for four months by him and eye surgeon, Dr Quresh Maskati, from Mumbai. "As I was scheduled to go to Colombo for a conference, I approached Sri Lankan Medical Council for a license to operate on the patient there and it agreed," said Dr Maskati.

Dr Maskati completed this surgery with the help of a local eye surgeon Dr Kusum Rathnayake in Colombo on September 13.

What was the cause of patient's blindness?

After the surgery, the patient was overjoyed to be able to see his family on, especially his four-year-old daughter after four years of returning home on September 24. The 30-year-old patient said, "While cleaning our attic, a bottle of alkaline solution broke and its content poured onto my head and face." His right eye was completely damaged after this accident. Experts performed corneal transplants twice on his left eye but sadly, both attempts were in vain.

"As his only hope was an artificial cornea, his local doctor got in touch with me," said Dr Maskati. He met with the patient while he was attending a conference in Pakistan and confirmed that a artificial cornea would work. After performing the long-distance surgery, the patient's eye-sight was partially recovered within 48 hours.

Need to grant medical visas to patients from all countries

In a post on Linkedin. Dr Quresh Maskati, hoped that political barriers do not prevent needy patients to avail treatment from foreign countries in India.

"It was gratifying to be featured on the front page of the Sunday Times of India dated 29 Sept 2024 for having restored sight in a blind Pakistani patient in a Sri Lanka hospital. Kudos to Dr. Amila De Alwis, Dr. kusum Rathnayake and staff of the eye hospital for their cooperation. I sincerely wish and dream for the day when politics takes a back seat and we grant medical visas to patients from all countries without exception who wish to seek treatment in India so that such logistic issues of operating with special permission in third countries don’t arise !," read his post.