Cataract is the leading cause of blindness worldwide, accounting for half of the world’s 40 million blind people’s sight loss. The majority of the world’s 20 million cataract-blind live in the developing world. About five million new cases of cataract-blindness occur each year, representing more than 13,000 people becoming blind every day.1
In the developing world, the main causes for poor eye health and cataracts include a limited access to good hygiene, poor diet, genetics and age. The situation is compounded by the fact that there is very little access to good eye care.
Cataract-blindness causes severe economic and social problems in these countries and, because of increased life expectancy and population growth throughout the developing world, the number of untreated cataract cases is escalating rapidly.
With the right treatment 80 per cent of all visual impairment can be avoided or cured.1 The Beta Charitable Trust is committed to supporting the establishment of eye clinics and mobile medical eye clinics in East Africa, India and the Middle East.
Beta Charitable Trust
The Trust has a well-established history of holding cataract screenings and surgeries to help people of all ages from the poorest of backgrounds and remotest areas regain their sight. This year alone we have held more than 20 eye camps and treated more than 15,000 patients providing various treatments as simple as corrective glasses and eye washes, through to complex surgeries.
[CaptionComponent="1785"]Each eye camp is held in convenient locations, such as a school. People are screened for various conditions and are given a basic eye examination.
Spectacles and eye drops are distributed to those who need them and the patients who require cataract surgery are referred to our eye surgery camps for treatment. Operations take place in local and mobile hospitals, where doctors and nurses volunteer their time to give people the best treatment and aftercare possible. Any necessary eye drops and spectacles are prescribed post-operatively to ensure optimum eye health for these patients in the future.
African camp
An example of an eye camp run by Beta Charitable Trust was a clinic held in April this year at a secondary school in Kigoma, Tanzania.
More than 4,500 people were screened for various eye conditions, ranging from macular degeneration to conjunctivitis. In total, 3,442 spectacles were given free of charge and 3,534 units of medicine were prescribed.
A team of dedicated surgeons performed 284 free surgical procedures. All patients were prescribed relevant eye drops and other necessary medications, and also given sunglasses.
There were some extraordinary cases seen during this eye camp. One example was a young woman who was blind in both eyes due to cataracts. Her husband could not bear to stay with her while her eyesight diminished and so he divorced her. Following bilateral cataract extraction, her eyesight was fully restored. She really had been given a new start in life and the first thing she wanted to do was to find her ex-husband and show him what he had lost.
[CaptionComponent="1786"]In another case, a 13-year-old boy, also functionally blind, was operated on in both eyes; he was incredibly emotional and overcome with excitement when he could see again. The operation was truly life-changing and has opened up a whole new world for him.
[CaptionComponent="1787"]Realisable goal
Cataract surgery only costs £40 per eye and is carried out by fully qualified surgeons, assisted by nurses and healthcare professionals, and dedicated volunteers to provide an excellent standard of care. It is incredible to consider that such a small amount of money can achieve such life-enhancing results.
Beta Charitable Trust continually aims to make a difference to many more of the millions suffering from treatable eye conditions.
Whether you can help by collecting donations for minor repairs of spectacles, taking part in sponsored events to raise money or if you would like to contribute in any way, please get in touch.
To find out more about supporting or being involved, please visit the website at: www.betacharitabletrust.org/projects/eye-camps, or alternatively, contact admin@betacharitabletrust.org.
Reference
1 WHO. (2014). Visual impairment and blindness. Available: www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs282/en
Suhail Valji is an optometrist based at Boots Opticians and head of Eye Camps for Beta Charitable Trust