Campaign aims to reduce preventable and avoidable blindness
Since 1997, the public sector has conducted over 500 000 cataract surgeries and they are looking to increase this number dramatically.
It is a tragedy that 80% of blind people in the country lost their sight as a result of preventable conditions, the deputy minister of the Department of Health, Dr Gwen Ramogkopa, said during the Eye Care Awareness day at the Mediclinic Medforum last Thursday.
The event, which was held in support of World Sight day, was the result of a successful partnership established by the Health department between the public and private sectors and non-profit organisations.
The partnership focuses on achieving the global strategic plan for eye health between 2013 and 2019.
At the core of this is the campaign Vision 2020, which aims to reduce preventable and avoidable blindness and impairment of vision.
The deputy minister wants the shockingly high figures of people who suffer from visual impairment from avoidable conditions to urge people into taking better care of themselves.
“We strongly advise people to go to their nearest clinics to be screened so that they can be referred to the hospitals if necessary,” Ramokgopa said.
The event saw Medforum South Africa support the Health department in the public-private initiative by performing 10 cataract procedures at the Mediclinic Medforum.
It was the culmination of a two-day programme that started with the removal of cataracts from 20 patients at the Pretoria West Hospital the previous day.
According to the World Health Organisation, an estimated 180 million people worldwide are visually disabled and these numbers are expected to double by 2020. However, many of these could have their vision restored by surgery such as cataract removal.
Part of the Vision 2020 campaign is to target the cataract operations.
The Health department agreed to perform 1 500 cataract operations per 1 000 000 people across all provinces.
Gauteng, the Western Cape, and the Free State achieved more than their target in 2011/12.
A 62-year-old patient, Derik Maboli, was excited after his cataract surgery.
“I can drive safely now and withdraw money from the ATM on my own,” said Maboli.
Since 1997, the public sector has conducted over 500 000 cataract surgeries and they are looking to increase this number dramatically. According to Doctor Kgoagelo Legodi, president of the Ophthalmology Society of South Africa and a leading eye specialist practising at the Mediclinic Medforum, a cataract surgery costs between R10 000 and R25 000, because of the expensive equipment that is used in the operation.
However, the partnership means that any member of the public has the opportunity to be operated on at the private hospital for free. The doctors from the private hospitals also go to public hospitals to assist there.
Sponsors who provide money to keep the project running make this possible. The Department of Health introduced the national health system to ensure that the 8.5% of GDP that is used in the health-care sector is more efficient.
“We are aware that the issue of cost is a barrier to access. Those who can afford health care today may not be able to do so tomorrow and they could find themselves in poor health. They may even be declared insolvent because of their health condition,” said Ramokgopa.
Deputy Minister Ramokgopa clarified that anyone with cataracts is welcome to undergo the operation, rich or poor.The Health department’s commitment is to ensure that no one is denied their constitutional right to health, as stated in Section 27 of the Constitution of South Africa.
