Meet the experts
Sightsavers has been the major eye care organisation working in Cameroon for over a decade. The project we launched in response to the chronic eye care needs of more than a million people living in the South West Region of the country has made huge strides: last year over 27,000 people were screened for eye diseases, 375 sight restoring cataract surgeries were carried out and over a thousand pairs of glasses dispensed. What’s more, prior to this project the number of cataract surgeries per million people each year was amongst the lowest in Africa, a situation which has greatly improved.
So who are the people responsible for these achievements? Those who carry out the work on the ground, who help deliver eye care to some of the hardest to reach and underserved communities in this West African country...
Dr Joseph Bah
As well as being the Director of Mamfe District Hosptial, Dr Bah (pictured in the image on the left, below) carries out patient consultations, and clinical and surgical work, which includes cataract operations. He says: “There is a tremendous job satisfaction after surgery as, although the surgery itself is challenging, by the end of the operation you have actually given somebody back their sight.”
There are only two ophthalmologists in the whole of the South West Region (meeting the needs of 1.2 million people; in the UK there is one ophthalmologist per 75,000 people) and Dr Bah attributes this to the fact that there is not sufficient financial motivation: surgeons want to work in the big cities where the money is better.
He says one of the challenges faced by the hospital is the six-year-old outreach vehicles which are struggling, but there is no money to maintain them. The majority of the roads in this region are earth, which are virtually inaccessible during the rainy season – and some journeys to and from the hospital would be almost impossible without patients and outreach workers being transported by a robust vehicle.
Augusta Eyong
Augusta (pictured in the central image, below) is incredibly proud of her position as Junior Ophthalmic Nurse, and of all the responsibilities that it entails. Her main duties are to assist Dr Bah in his daily routine, prepare patients for surgery, and to travel into the field to conduct outreach work about twice a month. In addition to this she trains classroom teachers in eye care and how to spot eye problems, and conducts screenings in schools, referring children who need treatment to the hospital or clinic.
“I love my job as I tend to see a lot of old people who have had no sight for some time,” she says. “After Dr Bah has performed cataract surgery, it is wonderful to see them so happy and so appreciative.”
She finds that the most difficult thing about the job is the terrain when travelling to do outreach work, which also makes it practically impossible for patients to make the journey to Mamfe District Hospital on their own, and means it is very difficult for the nurses to reach the patients in their homes.
Ndmu Ivo Ojong
Ivo is a refractionist (pictured above and in the image on the right, below), an optical technician and low vision service provider. A man of many talents, in the mornings he tests people’s eyesight and writes prescriptions, and in the afternoon he makes up spectacles in the spectacle lab.
“I very much enjoy having the opportunity to correct the sight of someone who cannot see,” he says. Even if spectacles do not help, Ivo can offer alternatives such as counselling, or putting people in touch with other organisations who can help visually impaired or blind people with their orientation and daily living skills.
His refractionist training took place in Limbe, in Cameroon, but he had to study optical technology in Mali as there is no school in Cameroon that caters for this. He then went on to attend a low vision programme in Ghana before taking up the job at Mamfe District Hospital.
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