Tin Oo to have surgery for cataracts in Singapore

Monday, 20 September 2010 21:03 Mizzima News

New Delhi (Mizzima) – National League for Democracy party vice-chairman Tin Oo is to undergo cataract surgery in Singapore in the next week, political colleagues say.

Tin Oo, 83, visited Pan Hlaing Hospital in Rangoon early this month and doctors arranged to refer his case to Singapore as he required specialised surgery.

“We don’t know yet by which airline he will travel. Pan Hlaing hospital is affiliated with hospitals in Singapore and Malaysia so when he visited Pan Hlaing, doctors found out that his cataracts were unusual and needed special and more lengthy treatment for their removal,” Committee Representing the People’s Parliament (CRPP) secretary Aye Thar Aung told Mizzima.

Cataracts are a medical condition in which the lens of the eye becomes progressively opaque, resulting in blurred vision.

NLD spokesman and lawyer Nyan Win confirmed the plan but was unable to give an exact date for Tin Oo’s departure.

“He can’t even see a person standing just two or three feet away from him. His eyes are badly damaged,” Nyan Win said.

A party leader estimated that he might leave Rangoon next Tuesday and that his Singapore medical trip might take between two and seven days. The hospital was arranging all travel documents and air tickets.

A staff member at the hospital refused to answer Mizzima queries over the phone about the trip as he had no authority to speak on the matter. When Mizzima contacted Tin Oo’s home, the connection was noisy and voices inaudible.

His spouse and children might accompany him to Singapore, a source said.