Colombo – IOM Sri Lanka will today start a ten-day mobile medical camp for tsunami-affected and low income families in Kalutara district, 35 km south of Colombo.

The camp, which will bring free health care to some 20,000 people, is an extension of IOM's Australian Red Cross-funded mobile eye camp programme, organized in the south and east of the country in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, the Sri Lanka College of Ophthalmologists and the World Health Organization.

The Kalutara camp, in addition to offering sight care, treatment and spectacles, will also offer help with hearing problems including hearing aids, dental treatment, general medical check ups and health education on subjects including HIV/AIDS and dengue fever prevention.

Partner agencies taking part in the camp include the Provincial Directorate of Health Services (PDHS) Western Province (DPDHS Kalutara/MOH Moratuwa); the National Institute of Health Services (NHIS), Kalutara; the General Hospital Kalutara; the Dental Institute, Maharagama; the Epidemiological Unit of Ministry of Health (MoH); Wickramarachchi Opticians, and the NGO, Sun Flower Village.

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For further information, please contact: Dr Qasim Sufi, IOM Colombo, Tel: +94 11 536 19 41, E-mail: qasims@iomsrilanka.org