I am delighted to report back from a successful ‘dissemination workshop’ for data from the first-ever population based RAAB survey in Maldives. The workshop was organized by the WHO country office in Maldives and was graced by the honorable Minister of Health Her Excellency Ms Iruthisham Adam, Dr Tara Prasad Das, IAPB SEA Regional Chair, Prof. Henry Adala, LCIF Technical Advisor, Africa, Deputy Ministers and policy makers of Maldives and other eye care colleagues from the island nation.

On the first day of survey data collection we—Me, as the RAAB trainer and Mr Ubeydulla Thoufeeq as the Principal Investigator—were interviewed on live TV regarding the purpose and importance of survey to the country. After two weeks of preparation, I’m back in office and am happy to note that the data collection work is going on full-swing. We are using PEEK’s app for data-collection, which is making the recording of data easy and accurate (I had tested its first use in Nepal too). Data collection should be complete by the end of March and data analysis and result is expected by early April 2016.

The committee was created based on recommendation in a workshop supported by IAPB and organised by Indonesia Ophthalmologist Association (IOA/PERDAMI) in 2014 in Jogjakarta.