70
EW IN OTHER NEWS Fighting continued from page 69
30 cooperadores on vitamin A and ocular health, and performed 12 laser glaucoma surgeries and one trabeculectomy. The patients' aver- age pressure drop was 46%. "Surgery [in the D.R.] isn't a
challenge because I do it in Dr. Guzman's surgical center," Dr. Kosoko-Lasaki explained. "It's not as challenging as it would be if I didn't
have that collaboration with Dr. Guzman. He donates the use of his staff, and when I go down, I take some of the essentials. I take my own instruments and a lot of sam- ples of medication that I leave for him. It's like a little exchange." She also makes sure the cooper-
adores get a full eye exam. "My belief is if they're on my
January 2012
Index to Advertisers Alcon Laboratories Inc.
Page: Cover 2, 3, 25, and 26 Phone: 800-862-5266 Fax: 800-241-0677 www.alconlabs.com
Allergan
Page: 50 and 51 Phone: 714-246-4500 Fax: 714-246-4764 www.allergan.com
APAO Busan
Page: 42 www.apaobusan2012.com
Asia-Pacific Page: 31 Phone: 65-63278630 www.apacrs.org
Beaver Visitec Int.
Page: Cover 4 Phone: 781-906-6926 Fax: 781-906-7992 www.beaver-visitec.com
BRACRS
Page: 56 Phone: 55(17) 3214-5900 Fax: 55(17) 3214-5905 www.bracrs.org
ESCRS
Page: 65 and 66 www.escrs.org
Gulden Ophthalmics
Page: 67 Phone: 215-884-8105 Fax: 215-884-0418 www.guldenophthalmics.com
Katena Products
Page: 16 Phone: 973-989-1600 Fax: 973-989-8175 www.katena.com
Leica Microsystems Inc.
Page: 5 Phone: 800-526-0355 Fax: 847-405-0164 www.leica-microsystems.com
Mastel Precision
Page: 14 Phone: 800-657-8057 Fax: 605-343-3631 www.mastel.com
ASCRS•ASOA Meeting Information
2012 ASCRS Symposium and ASOA Congress Page: 17
ASCRS Cornea Day 2012 Page: 27
ASCRS Glaucoma Day 2012 Page: 29
ASCRS Membership Page: 19, 21, and 23
ASOA Membership Page: 38
EyeWorld Corporate Mornings
2012 Page: 53
EyeWorld Education Page: 59
EyeWorld CME Page: 43
ASCRS Media Center Page: 10
The ILAC medical facility Source: Creighton University
staff, it would be a shame if they were doing everything they could to help others and had glaucoma and didn't know it," she said. "So I ex- amine all the cooperadores. I in- struct them on glaucoma, and the word gets out that they can trust me."
The patients are immensely
thankful and gracious to Dr. Kosoko- Lasaki and her staff, and bring her, for example, wild flowers as a thank you.
"They say to me, 'What do you
want, Doctor? Food?' and I say, 'No, no food. I want you to do what you can for guests,'" she said. "They sing and clap. They are very happy."
Page: 60 www.noao.org
Rhein Medical Inc.
Page: 11 Phone: 813-885-5050 Fax: 813-885-9346 www.rheinmedical.com
Santen
Page: 7 Phone: 707-254-1750 Fax: 707-254-1755 www.santen.com
Ziemer Ophthalmic
Page: 62 Phone: 866-708-4490 Fax: 681-462-9302 www.ziemergroup.com
Medownick Laser Eye Clinic
Page: 67 www.Medownicklasereyesurgery.com
New Orleans Academy of Ophthalmology
Dr. Kosoko-Lasaki examines a young girl for VAD, the leading cause of preventable blindness in children
Source: Creighton University "Patients are extremely thank-
ful," said Mr. Briggs. "They say 'thank you' probably 100 times. Some are a little bewildered as to what's going on because they don't really understand. But we try to ex- plain. Some don't fully understand why they take [glaucoma] medicine, but they trust so much in the doctor that they'll do it regardless of their understanding." Dr. Kosoko-Lasaki plans on con-
tinuing to donate her time in the D.R. and says she's seen improve- ments in the country's glaucoma care over the years. "Patients are aware, and the
clinic is very busy," she said. "Aware- ness is what is needed for glaucoma. When people are aware, they want to be treated." She would like to see doctors
focus more of their volunteering on glaucoma, however, noting it's the second most common cause of blindness in the world. "Attention hasn't been directed
to that area because of the difficulty of managing the disease," Dr. Kosoko-Lasaki said. "The medica- tions are expensive. Patients in the D.R. have access to medications, but if someone gives it out for free one or two times—a medication that pa- tients are supposed to take for the rest of their life—at what point do they stop giving it for free? That's the challenge." EW
Contact information Briggs: BrettBriggs@creighton.edu Guzman: sebastianguzman@hotmail.com Kosoko-Lasaki: SadeKosoko- Lasaki@creighton.edu Kraemer: Klaus.Kraemer@dsm.com Peña: radalme@hotmail.com
