Curing blindness
Cataract is the world’s leading cause of blindness, with around 18 million people blind as a result. Although cataract is found all over the world, getting treatment for it is much more difficult in developing countries, and it affects children as well as adults. Many people are needlessly blind from cataract because they don’t know that it can be cured.
Curing cataract
Although cataract cannot be prevented, it is relatively easy to cure. In fact cataract surgery has been described by the World Bank as “one of the most cost-effective surgical interventions”. Sightsavers and our local partners work in communities to identify people with cataract, as well as performing surgery and providing follow-up care.
Treating child cataract
Our partners make sure community health workers are trained to recognise the symptoms of cataract in children, and to know when to refer on for surgery, as well as to support paediatric teams to run specialist eye clinics. Although child cataract surgery is more complex than adult surgery it’s still a quick, relatively cheap procedure. After children have had surgery follow up care is provided.
Training eye care staff
One of the main problems in providing surgery for cataract is the shortage of eye surgeons. As well as training eye surgeons, we provide specialist training for eye nurses enabling them to perform straightforward cataract cases leaving the surgeons free to deal with the more complex ones.
Reaching remote communities
In order to reach people with eye problems such as cataract who live in rural areas, health teams go out to remote villages and hold eye camps. Leaflets are distributed prior to the camps and announcements are made on local radio to encourage people to attend. During the camp each person will undergo a visual ability test. If they are found to have cataract they are taken to the hospital to have surgery.
Click here for more information about cataract.
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