Corneal and cataract treatment in Cairo for patients from Libya
Corneal transplant, keratoconus, cataract with premium lenses: with a US-fellowship-trained cornea consultant, and your whole trip coordinated from the first WhatsApp message until you are back in Libya.
Patients from Libya reach Dr. Ahmed Shaarawy's clinic in Dokki, Cairo, every month. The review starts on WhatsApp before you travel: you send your report or photos of your cornea, and you learn the likely procedure, the length of the stay and the approximate cost in dollars before you book your ticket.
Visiting surgeon of the National Corneal Transplant Programme with the Libyan Ministry of Health, 2022: about 20 corneal transplants in a week at Tripoli University Hospital, after a pause of nearly eight years.
The surgeon who brought corneal transplants back to Tripoli University Hospital
On 27 March 2022 the Libyan Ministry of Health launched the National Corneal Transplant Programme at Tripoli University Hospital, and Dr. Ahmed Shaarawy was the visiting surgeon who performed the programme's operations: about 20 corneal transplants in one week, including deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK), one of the most advanced transplant techniques and one of the safest for the cases it suits.
On the closing day the hospital administration awarded him its shield, engraved “for taking part in the resumption of corneal transplantation held at the hospital”: the programme came after corneal transplants at the hospital had stopped for nearly eight years, and he had been the first to open this surgery there on his first visit in 2016. The newspaper Libya Al-Ikhbariya covered the event in issue 649 on 5 April 2022.
The number above is a count of cases performed during the programme, not a success rate. “Resumption after nearly eight years” is how the hospital administration and the clinic described the event at the time, and the sources are shown below. There are no visits to Libya scheduled at the moment; treatment takes place at the Cairo clinic.
هذا وقد شرع استشاري طب وجراحة العيون الأستاذ الدكتور «أحمد محمد خليل شعراوي» من دولة مصر، صباح اليوم في إجراء الكشوفات الطبية لإجراء 20 عملية لزراعة القرنية داخل المراكز الطبية المتخصصة في مدينة طرابلس.Translation: “Consultant ophthalmologist and eye surgeon Professor Dr. Ahmed Mohammad Khalil Shaarawy, from Egypt, began this morning the medical examinations for 20 corneal transplant operations at the specialised medical centres in Tripoli.”
- The Libyan Ministry of Health's official post, 27 March 2022: launch of the National Corneal Transplant Programme (in Arabic)
- The clinic's post on the close of the programme, 11 April 2022 (photos of the shield and the newspaper, in Arabic)
- The clinic's post on the national programme and the Libyan Ministry of Health's recognition, February 2024 (in Arabic)
Patients from Libya
Patients from Libya, in their own words
They came from Libya to the Cairo clinic for different procedures: corneal transplant, laser and corneal rings. Tap any video to watch the full story.
0:50AmnaFull-thickness corneal transplantShe travelled from Libya to Cairo for a full-thickness transplant, and speaks four days after the surgery.
0:57AhmedLaser vision correctionOver forty, with weak distance and near vision. He considered lens implants, then chose laser after the examination.
1:35HawaCorneal ringsFrom Tripoli, she came for a lens implant. Her scans showed moderate keratoconus, so Dr. Shaarawy started with rings alone. A lens implant in both eyes comes next.
From Libya to the clinic in five steps
This is the actual order every patient from Libya goes through. Nothing is left to chance, and you know every step before you book your ticket.
Send your case on WhatsApp before you book any ticket
Tell us what you are dealing with and send photos of the cornea, your topography report (Pentacam) or any earlier report from your doctor in Libya. Many questions are settled by that first message: whether the case is in our specialty at all, and whether you need one visit or two.
A first review from the team and an initial opinion before you travel
The team shows your case to Dr. Ahmed and replies with an initial opinion on the likely procedure and the expected stay, so you can plan the trip and the budget with real numbers instead of guesses. The initial opinion is not a diagnosis; the diagnosis comes after the examination at the clinic.
Book the appointment, then travel
We set your first examination around your arrival date. The clinic is in Dokki, central Cairo, about 30 minutes from Cairo International Airport, and there are direct flights from Tripoli and Benghazi to Cairo.
A full examination, then the surgery
The first visit includes full corneal topography and a complete eye examination. After it, the team walks you through the actual day-by-day schedule for the agreed procedure. No surgery happens before you understand what will be done and why.
A written report for the trip home, and follow-up from Libya
Before you leave you receive a detailed surgical report, your drops and medication schedule and the warning signs to watch for, so the eye doctor in your city can continue the follow-up. The clinic's WhatsApp line stays open for any question after you are home.
How many days will you stay in Cairo?
The question we get most from Libya. The stay follows the procedure, not the operation itself: what sets its length is the check that has to happen before you fly.
| Procedure | Stay | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Corneal cross-linking or corneal rings | One visit | The examination and the procedure can happen in the same visit |
| Corneal transplant (DALK · DMEK · DSAEK · PKP) | 7-10 days | A first visit, then a check before you fly; that check is what sets the length of the stay |
| Cataract or ICL lens implant | 7 days | You can fly after day 3, provided an eye doctor in Libya examines you on day 7 |
| LASIK and laser vision correction | 4 days | At minimum |
These are approximate lengths for planning. The team confirms the stay for your case in the first review, before you book the return ticket.
The package: surgery, hotel and transfers in one cost
Instead of hunting for a hotel and transport in a city you don't know, the package puts them together with the surgery in one cost you know before you travel.
The package includes
- The surgery itself
- A hotel close to the clinic at a negotiated rate
- Airport transfers both ways
Surgery inside the eye: corneal transplant, cataract, ICL implants
$3,500-5,500
Typical total, depending on the procedure and the hotel
LASIK and laser vision correction
$1,200-1,800
Typical total, for Femto-LASIK, both eyes
Who will operate on you? A named surgeon, not a medical travel agency
You are not dealing with a middleman who books you with a doctor whose name you learn on arrival. Dr. Ahmed Shaarawy, consultant in cornea and anterior segment surgery, holds a cornea fellowship from the Devers Eye Institute in Oregon, USA, and was the first to introduce S-DMEK in Egypt. He is the one who examines you, performs the surgery and writes your report for the trip home.
20+
years
in cornea and anterior segment surgery
🇺🇸
Devers
cornea fellowship, Oregon, USA
AAO
video library
two surgical techniques in the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) video library
2024
Peer-reviewed paper
peer-reviewed keratoconus research (2024)
What to bring from Libya
- Your passport and a return ticket (set the return date once you know the length of the stay, not before).
- Every earlier report and test for your eyes, even old ones: topography, refraction, reports from any previous surgery.
- The names of the drops and medicines you use now, and your glasses or contact lenses.
- One companion if possible: after eye surgery you should not drive or get around alone on the first day.
Entry requirements for Egypt change without notice and are outside the clinic's remit; check them with the official authorities before you book.
Questions from patients in Libya before they travel
Answers to the questions we really get on WhatsApp from Tripoli, Benghazi and Misrata
Is it true that the doctor performed corneal transplants in Tripoli?
Can the doctor look at my case before I travel from Libya?
How many days do I need to stay in Cairo?
Are prices in dollars, and how much is a corneal transplant?
Where exactly is the clinic, and is it close to the airport?
Do you help with the hotel and transport?
My case is retina or glaucoma. Do you treat it?
Can I have my follow-up in Libya after the surgery?
Start by sending your report, not by booking your ticket
Send your report or photos of your cornea on WhatsApp, and you will know the likely procedure and the length of the stay before you travel