CATCH, which stands for Coordinated Approach to Community Health, has worked towards sustainable eye care services across Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda and Zambia. The lessons learned will help us develop future programmes.
While running our trachoma screening programmes in Africa, we realised many patients coming to the camps had cataracts and other eye diseases that the camps didn’t have the necessary equipment or right environment to treat.
The patients turned away were unlikely to seek further help due to lack of money or distance to get to their nearest hospital.
The CATCH programme piggybacked on large-scale trachoma initiatives and ensured cataract patients were given help to travel to the nearest facility where cataract surgery could be performed.
The CATCH programme has helped to train cataract surgeons such as Gladys.
Read Gladys’s storyWhile significant progress has been made to provide sustainable eye care services, there are still challenges to be faced and work that needs to be done. Sightsavers and partners need the continued support of donors, as well as national and local governments to make sure eye health is a top priority. Together we can enhance the health, quality of life and future wellbeing of millions of people.
Thanks to your support…
Vision Spring USA donated 55,000 pairs of reading glasses, which were distributed to people in need through the programme.
The CATCH project was funded by the UK government’s Department for International Development as a result of donations made by Sightsavers supporters in 2014 during a funding appeal. The donations were matched pound for pound by the UK Aid Match fund.
The programme has restored the sight of more than 21,000 people and generated a wealth of knowledge that will be used to improve future programmes.
Read our blog