Restoring Eyesight | Cataract Mission

Background.

Globally, 285 million people are visually impaired, 90% are low income, and two out of three of the visually impaired are women!! (WHO Factsheet 2014). A staggering 80% of blindness can be treated. Four out of five people, in less than 10 minutes of painless, low cost surgical treatment, can see again, become independent once more, and fully contribute to their local communities.

A simple, but incredibly life-changing mission, and so achievable... with a little helping hand.

From 11 - 14 June 2019, WAH, The Kampong Chhnang provincial health department, (PHD), A New Vision, The Good Exchange, surgeons from Tilganga Eye Hospital, Nepal, and a group of dedicated volunteers, carried out a three-day cataract mission in Kampong Chhnang province, Cambodia. WAH provided all logistics on the ground and The Provincial Health Department (part of The Cambodian Ministry of Health) provided the hospital, facilities and ten staff, including a local trained eye surgeon. Prior to the mission, WAH, together with PHD, spent a few months screening the patients and ordering the correct lenses for each patient.

To see local people turn up at KC provincial hospital with no sight, or very little sight, helped by care givers and family, their faces sad and their bodies bent over, was an emotional experience. Their lives were not vibrant, they could not work or see their families.

One day later, once their patches had been removed after the cataract operation the day before, there was a complete transformation in their behaviour. Suddenly their eye sight was brought back, they could see their families, see colour, see smiles and laughter, walk normally without tripping, see the sunlight shining through the window of the hospital building. This touched our hearts, and made us all realise that we had helped to change these peoples lives forever.

Bayon TV National Report
https://www.facebook.com/BayonTelevision/videos/461202921376620/UzpfSTI2NDAzMjY0NzMyNDI4Mjo4NjY0MjExNDcwODU0MjY/

We carried out 347 eye surgeries on 285 patients during the three day mission. A one-off, five to ten minute eye surgery restored vision the very next day to the 285 patients. The patients are now able to live a normal life, work again, not rely on a caregiver, and see their families.

The reason people are blind due to cataracts is either because they cannot afford the treatment, or they have no access to good eye care, or they do not know that their blindness is curable. This is an unnecessary tragedy, and we plan to change it. 80% of the world’s blind do not have to be blind.

Future Projects

WAH plans to organise future eye missions with our collaboration partners, and also wants to train more medical staff to identify and screen cataract patients, to make the process more efficient. PHD already has a trained eye surgeon, trained by Dr Reeta Gurung, CEO Tilganga Hospital in Nepal. This makes it easier to build on the work we have already done with our first mission.

https://youtu.be/7AYZPNp-uTs

BACKGROUND : Village Screening Pre-surgery March-April-May 2019
https://www.facebook.com/anewvision.org/videos/164989671105933/UzpfSTI2NDAzMjY0NzMyNDI4Mjo4MTcxNDQzMzUzNDY0NDE/

Focussed on making a difference #wahglobal joins hands with #anewvision2020 to kick-start a ground breaking, highly scaleable and totally sustainable new medical program in Kampong Chhnang 🇰🇭 with the objective of restoring sight to old and young in remote rural communities.

Thanks to all our donor supporters and A New Vision’s world renowned medical team from Nepal, who joined us, supported by MoH Cambodia, as part of initial screening for a week of cataract removal surgery, inmid-June 2019.