Alicante, January 2026 – A team from Alicante has set out on the inaugural “Balmis for Vision” expedition, a joint initiative by the Jorge Alió Foundation for the Prevention of Blindness and the Rotary Club Alicante, aiming to restore sight to hundreds of patients in Mauritania. The mission, part of the ongoing Nouadhibou Vision project, plans to perform 1,000 cataract surgeries per year while training local surgeons and healthcare professionals to prevent future blindness.
Departing from Alicante with 17 international volunteers and two containers of medical supplies, the team includes ophthalmologists from Alicante, Salamanca, and Egypt. Among them are five surgeons, including Prof. Jorge Alió, a distinguished ophthalmologist and Honorary Researcher at Miguel Hernández University, along with specialists in oculoplastics, surgical assistants, and students from the University of Alicante’s final-year Optics and Optometry program.
The mission, running from January 19 to 27, will focus on treating cataracts—one of the leading causes of preventable blindness in Sub-Saharan Africa—with an estimated 50 patients treated daily. Hundreds are expected to regain their vision thanks to these surgeries.
The Nouadhibou Vision project, active since 2007, has conducted 25 prior medical expeditions, delivering 31,208 eye consultations and 3,053 surgical interventions, alongside the ongoing work at the Nouadhibou Ophthalmology Center, which has provided over 37,000 consultations and 1,400 surgeries. These figures highlight the project’s sustained impact, offering both continuous medical care and professional training rather than one-off interventions.
To support the mission, the foundation shipped two containers of ophthalmic, surgical, and pharmaceutical supplies to Mauritania, with contributions from companies and organizations in the healthcare sector, including Bausch & Lomb, Topcon, Zeiss, Farmamix Vision, Clínica Las Claras, and local pharmacies. Community partners such as Rotary Clubs, Lions Clubs, and several foundations also played a vital role.
The expedition underscores a long-standing commitment to international cooperation, blindness prevention, and improving quality of life for vulnerable populations. It further solidifies Nouadhibou Vision as a benchmark for global humanitarian ophthalmology.
The Jorge Alió Foundation, celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2026, is a private, non-profit institution founded in 1996 by Prof. Jorge Alió. Its work spans healthcare, education, research, culture, and volunteerism, with both national and international reach.
