Kenya First East African Nation to Offer LASIK

LASIK surgeons are so prevalent in the US that we take them for granted. It's easy to forget that many developing countries either have no LASIK doctors, or that they just recently started LASIK programs. One of these latter is Kenya, a country that has so far operated on around 200 eyes.

The Eagle Eye Laser Centre in Nairobi is now able to offer LASIK surgery thanks to a 100 million shilling ($1.2 million) investment from venture capital firm InReturn Capital. This makes the center the first one in the East African region to offer LASIK. Although people are warming up to the procedure, the center's operations manager said Kenyans were a little reluctant at first.

Now that the center is giving good results, the operations manager says, "Many happy patients have been sending their friends, colleagues and relatives, now that they have seen for themselves that the procedures were performed successfully. We would see that a family usually has one 'brave' family member who'd go and have the procedure done first, and upon success the others would now follow."

Although many Kenyans who have undergone LASIK are wealthy, the center is working to make it possible to offer the procedure to those who would otherwise not be able to afford it. This is being done through donations from Europe and finding companies who will give favorable contracts.

The center is looking to cater to those who would otherwise leave Kenya to get LASIK and is looking to expand in the region, setting up facilities all over so that the people can get the medical treatment they need.

If you are interested in LASIK, please contact an experienced LASIK doctor in your area today.