Cutting out cataract blindness
10 October 2002
For more than 400 South Africans, 10 October 2002 was an eye-opener in the literal sense as the Department of Health, various NGOs and private institutions marked World Sight Day with a mass surgical removal of cataracts.
On a single day, operations aimed at restoring sight were performed on more than 400 hundred patients at more than 25 public and private hospitals countrywide under the auspices of the Department and the private sector Right to Sight campaign.
The Right to Sight campaign is co-ordinated by the Bureau for the Prevention of Blindness and pulls together a range of partners and sponsors including the national and provincial departments of health, the Ophthalmologic Society of SA, the SA Optometric Association and private hospital groups.
According to Vision 2020 – a coalition of 26 international organisations including the World Health Organization – there are 45 million blind people worldwide and a further 135 million
people with serious continuing visual impairment.
In about 80% of cases, blindness is either preventable or curable. In South Africa, cataract is the leading cause of blindness, affecting about 160 000 of the estimated 250 000 blind people in the country.
A cataract occurs when the lens of the eye, which is normally clear, becomes cloudy and opaque. This occurs mainly in older people. The only available treatment is surgery, in which the opaque lens is removed and replaced with a clear plastic lens. Once the cataract has been removed, the patient's sight is restored.
The Department of Health and Right to Sight aim to eliminate cataract blindness in South Africa within the next five years by increasing cataract surgery in the public sector from 25 000 to 90 000 procedures per year over five years, augmented by 12 000 operations annually in the private sector.
Increasing public sector capacity, leveraging private sector
resources
Key to the Right to Sight campaign is the establishment of 33 strategically situated Right to Sight Eyecare centres to increase the public sector’s capacity to deal with cataracts. After five years, these centres will be taken over by the provincial health departments.
At the same time, the campaign is leveraging massive private sector support. The Ophthalmologic Society of SA and the SA Optometric Association have committed themselves to an additional 12 000 cataract operations annually for five years.
Optometrists provide screening tests and if necessary spectacles at a much reduced cost. Ophthalmologists have agreed to add two patients per week to their operating schedule, free of charge. The entire operation, including consumables and the use of the hospital facilities, costs R1 650 per eye, a fraction of the normal cost.
The overall cost of the campaign is estimated at R220-million. The contribution by the country’s optometrists,
ophthalmologists and private hospitals will amount to an estimated R75-million over five years.
If it succeeds, an estimated 160 000 people will regain their capacity for independence and productivity, thousands of families will be relieved from the need to care for blind relatives, and South Africa will be the first developing country in the world to eradicate cataract blindness in its population.
SouthAfrica.info reporter
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