Why This US Presidential Candidate Is Visiting Haiti

Rand Paul, MD makes trip to Haiti

By the Caribbean Journal staff

One US presidential candidate is taking some time from the campaign trail to visit the Caribbean.

Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican candidate for president from Kentucky, is joining the University of Utah’s John A Moran Eye Center on a weeklong surgical mission to Haiti to conduct pro-bono eye care.

Paul, an ophthalmologist by trade, will help the team to perform 200 sight-restoring surgeries while working with local clinicians.

“There is a high rate of preventable blindness in Haiti, but also a real opportunity to improve eye care,” said Randall J Olson, MD, CEO of the John A. Moran Eye Center and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Utah. “This is the second Moran mission that Dr. Paul has joined, and we are thrilled that he is helping us to bring further awareness to this epidemic.”

Haiti has a high rate of blindness, due to the country’s strong sun and a lack of available healthcare, according to the Moran Eye Center.

“It has been a joy to work with the Haitian staff and physicians. They are incredibly dedicated to their patients and to improving eye care in Haiti,” said glaucoma specialist Craig Chaya, MD, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the Moran Eye Center.