Josep Antoni Pujante i Conesa is a doctor with a very extensive and diverse career. With a degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Barcelona, a doctorate and a diploma in various specialisations, he has held various management positions, and is currently director of International Relations and Health Cooperation at the Catalan Government’s Department of Health.
He is president of the Barcelona International Panathlon and author of 20 books. He has given more than 300 lectures in various countries and has received 18 national and international awards. He was also the first doctor in Spain to climb Mount Everest.
He is a collaborator of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and sits on the boards of directors of public companies and consortiums. Eyes of the world has been honoured to have him as a patron since 2015.
In the last 35 years he has participated in several diplomatic, institutional and cooperation missions in various countries around the world. A few weeks ago, he returned from the African continent where he visited the project that Eyes of the world has in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria. There he had the opportunity to see first-hand the reality of a population in need of eye health care, as well as the contribution of the Foundation in this territory. In this interview he shares his experience and reflections on Eyes of the world.
How and when did you get to know the Foundation and what is your current relationship with it?
I knew the Eyes of the world Foundation when it was created, more than 20 years ago; I had a good relationship with the president Rafael Ribó and with Dr. Borja Corcóstegui, with whom we had worked in the same centre since 1974. Later, when I became director of Vall d’Hebron, in 1987, Dr. Corcóstegui was already head of the Ophthalmology Service. I remember that one of the first meetings, in 2003, was held at the first IMO headquarters and we planned a trip to Bolivia, as the only project at that time was the Saharawi camps. Núria Ramon, whom I knew from the Generalitat, was also there. At that time, I was director of International Health Cooperation at the Catalan Health Institute and had already many years of experience in field cooperation as a surgeon (since 1983).
What do you think about the evolution of Eyes of the world since its beginnings?
The evolution of Eyes of the world has been spectacular. Based on rigour, seriousness, hard work and projects that are well studied, defined, evaluated and constantly updated, we have achieved objectives that seemed unthinkable twenty years ago. You must look at the activity indicators; they reflect everything. Increased activity, penetration into the core of the population’s feelings, whether in the Sahara, Bolivia, Mali or Mozambique, and appreciation by the citizens of the countries where we are working to prevent avoidable blindness, with unquestionable success.
What is your impression of eye care in the areas where the Foundation is active?
A great job is being done. This is a shared merit, among the people who run the Foundation; I am not referring to the Foundation’s Board, as we have the institutional task of a governing council, but to the professionals who run the Foundation and those who carry out an admirable task as doctors, as technicians, as logisticians in the field… Both doctors and nurses, assistants and support staff are absolutely sensitive and carry out a committed task with enthusiasm, with a motivation and dedication worthy of all praise. The results of having restored sight to so many people, with surgical interventions or with complementary treatments or with optical means, glasses, etc., has changed the sight and the lives of thousands of people who did not have access to the basic right to visual health.
What changes have you seen in the camps from when you went 20 years ago to now?
The changes have been striking. Twenty years ago I arrived in Tindouf from Oran by road, on a long journey through the desert. This year we have landed at a modern airport in Tindouf, flying directly from Algiers, the capital of Algeria. I have noticed a better political organisation and a more evolved social and health structure. There is still a lack of infrastructure, but there is more cement and concrete in the buildings, which were previously made of mud and compost. Communications are also better, with asphalted roads that allow better and safer routes through the area. Also the possibilities of evacuating patients who need to be treated in Algiers, Oran or to Europe. Access to health services has improved, although there is still much to be done, but I would like to point out that the service provided by the Eyes of the world Foundation’s dispensary has a very high level of acceptance and appreciation by the Sahrawi population. The patients and their families have a great appreciation for this service and for the treatment they receive from the professionals, not only clinical but also human; this is very important for people who live in a remote place far from many comforts.
I have also observed the technological change. The fact that almost everyone has a mobile phone and access to the internet to work with a computer is very important for people who live in remote places and far away from many conveniences.
What has impressed you most about the Eyes of the world project in the camps and how do you think it is impacting on the eye health of the Sahrawi population? How do you assess the commitment of the Sahrawi authorities to eye health?
The Foundation’s project in the camps is an example of international cooperation that would impress anyone. With the minimum structure, which is much more than the initial one, it allows us to deploy an enormous activity, never seen before in those lands where, in addition to the ophthalmic pathology, there is a moral fatigue due to the many years of living badly in territories that are not their own, their historical and longed-for homeland.
This project was the first thing Eyes of the world tackled, and it lived up to its name, it began to restore sight to almost everyone who needed it. An activity never seen – never seen before – throughout the history of the refugee camps. The professionals carried out careful diagnoses and provided highly protocolised treatments. The result was the desired one. It has had and continues to have an impressive impact on the lives of people condemned to never see again, to live in darkness.
This has generated expressions of gratitude and admiration bordering on the miraculous. This is understandable. This task and the feelings it provoke cannot be summed up with statistical data alone. Beyond the quantitative aspect we must value the qualitative issues, and this is not measurable, it is a feeling, a sum of emotions that cannot be expressed in words. This good work of Eyes of the world has changed the lives of the elderly, who thought they would never be able to see, read or enjoy their grandchildren because of cataracts or other eye pathologies, and it has changed the lives of young people and adults, who can return to their studies or to their work. With serious retinal pathologies, which years ago nobody would have been able to solve in the middle of the Sahara desert, Eyes of the world makes it possible.
What are the essential functions of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees?
Our task is that of any board of trustees, like a board of directors, which must have an overall view – and a good view – of all the projects and set the lines of action, ratifying the proposals of the Foundation’s general management and the professionals on the steering committee. It is a rewarding role, as all the members of the Board of Trustees are firmly committed to the Foundation’s values. In my case, as I have the honour of representing the Generalitat as the Government, as well as the Department of Health, the mission is to be informed to inform the Minister and at the same time to supervise and support the projects by supporting all the actions once they have been studied in depth.
Many thanks to the president, the vice-president and the other members of the Board of Trustees, especially the representative of ONCE, because together we all work with enthusiasm and conviction for a better and fairer world.