First audio newsletter launched in UAE for people who are losing their sight

The newsletter is available on audio CD in Arabic and English and covers a wide range of topics that are of particular interest to people who are losing their sight.

The newsletter called Outlook, was launched at the Emirates Ophthalmic Congress 2008 (EOC 2008) so that ophthalmologists and other eye care professionals could make it available to their patients and families.

Foresight will produce 3 issues a year, to start with, and will supply copies free of charge. The first issue covers news about the activities of Foresight and what it is trying to achieve plus other articles about eye health, access technology and media. It deals primarily with blindness caused by hereditary eye disease and issues that affect people who are gradually losing their sight.

The Foresight team are really grateful to volunteers who helped record the CD in English and Arabic including students from the Dubai Women's College. A generous contribution from sponsors Vox Spectrum has enabled this to be produced.

"Vox Spectrum and its group companies offer solutions and products that are voice-based. Our R&D teams work on new applications using voice-technology. As communications continue to multiply, possibilities become endless. Hence, Vox believes that our horizons must be unlimited and our communications unbound. We hope that through our association with Foresight we will be able to contribute in their quest to improve access technology and voice as an alternative media,"

said Manoj Gopinath, Chief Operating Officer (Middle East Region)

Commenting on the value of the newsletter in our community is Katy Newitt, Chairwoman of Foresight, who is severely visually impaired with Retinitis Pigmentosa, "Hereditary eye disease makes people lose their vision. People who have been recently diagnosed often have a lot of useful vision and may not visit centres set up for blind people. However they still want information that is relevant to them in an accessible and interesting way. It is a way of reaching them and I hope that this will help them to feel they are not alone."

The Outlook newsletter can be played on any type of CD player. Foresight can also provide a printed version in standard or large format print.