Dr. Tamara Chirambo Nyaka joined the first Pristine 5.0 installation in Africa, attending the installation and training in Malawi with Seva consultants and a clinical partner serving patients living with HIV (PLWHIV). The concept, spearheaded by our African Program Officer, was to connect a local retina expert, Dr. Tamara, with the American consultants who played major roles in designing the camera as well as Vignesh, an expert from Remidio Innovative Solutions, who engineered, designed and manufactured the camera.
The training was a success, offering access to retinal imaging where none had existed before. This offered a pathway to treatment for patients who were at risk for blindness from opportunistic infections, including Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Retinitis.
But Dr. Tamara’s work did not stop there! When we found partners in Uganda with interest in expanding retinal imaging, we asked her to lead our training, establishing local expertise in both retinal imaging (which she had) and Pristine 5.0 (which she could get).
Dr. Tamara traveled to Remidio’s headquarters in Bengaluru, India, to meet with key members of the team to learn detailed operation of the camera and get some practice. Perhaps most importantly, she reconnected with Vignesh and met Ashish, establishing important relationships with the technical experts who could help with future issues.
Finally, we were joined by two of our partners in Uganda for a training when they received new Pristine 5.0 cameras. Our friends from Lira Regional Referral Hospital and Ruharo Mission Hospital joined Dr. Tamara in Lira for the first training in Africa not attended directly by Remidio experts.
Ben, from Ruharo, noted,
“The lesions we are now seeing on the Pristine are things we used to assume as normal but now we have been taught to stop and observe and describe , categorize and confirm these lesions.”
Dr. Shamiim, who has championed multiple technology projects at Lira, wrote, “
The purpose of this email is to extend my heartfelt gratitude to you all for the unwavering support and the kindness shown towards the people of Lango subregion. I am positive that these new developments will create a positive impact on the management of our patients henceforth.”
What has emerged from Dr. Tamara’s work is a network of trained professionals who connect, primarily over WhatsApp, over difficult cases or technical challenges. They can find support from Remidio or retinal experts and encouragement to continue to find ways to use the cameras to do the best work for their patients.
And we can’t wait to see what comes next from these conversations!
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