nkhoma eye hospital
DESCRIPTION
Dr Will Dean, Consultant Ophthalmologist at the CBM-supported Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi, talks about his work restoring sight through cataract surgery.TRANSCRIPT
Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi October 2010
Nkhoma Eye HospitalMalawi
CBM-supported eye care programme in Southern Africa
Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi October 2010
Nkhoma Eye HospitalMalawi
CBM-supported eye care programme in Southern Africa
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Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi October 2010
Nkhoma Eye Hospital
• Africa• Malawi
• Nkhoma Christian Mission Hospital
• Nkhoma Eye Hospital
Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi October 2010
10 Million Celebration
• cbm work throughout the world• Largest INGO tackling disability• 10 million cataract operations in past 100 years
Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi October 2010
The Scale of Blindness
• 45 million blind people globally• 7 million blind in Africa
• Malawi has 14 million population• 1% are blind• 70,000 are blind from cataract • 350,000 need cataract operation for blindness
or severe visual impairment
Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi October 2010
Nkhoma’s Area of Work
• Central Malawi• 4 million population• 4 eye surgeons• 100,000 people who need cataract surgery
• Childhood blindness, glaucoma, trachoma• Training
Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi October 2010
Nkhoma Eye Hospital
• Since 1999, Dr Nick Metcalfe from Sunderland developed the most productive district eye unit with a single eye surgeon, in African history.
• Dr Nick & the Nkhoma team pioneered high volume high quality cataract surgery in a rural African setting
Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi October 2010
Nkhoma Eye Hospital Sustainability
• Malawian Clinical Officer Cataract surgeon• Training Malawi Ophthalmologists
Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi October 2010
Nkhoma Eye Hospital
• To date, over 30,000 cataract operations performed at Nkhoma.
Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi October 2010
cbm Support
• CBM supported Nkhoma for past• 34 years
Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi October 2010
Cataract Surgery
• In UK NHS, one cataract operation costs £1,000 • Privately £bit more
• In Nkhoma, one cataract operations costs £20
• The average annual income in Malawi is £250• Surgery costs the patient £0
Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi October 2010
Why does Cataract Surgery in Nkhoma Cost £20?
• Transport & Case-finding
Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi October 2010
Rural Africa
• We work in Central Malawi, a very rural area of Africa
• 85% of population are subsistence farmers living in villages with no electricity, some water, and annual maize crops to feed the family.
• Some of the poorest of the poorest people of the World
• 74% live below the international poverty line of $1.25 a day
Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi October 2010
What do we do?
• Mobile clinics in villages• Screen and see people in churches, clinics,
football fields, under a tree
Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi October 2010
What do we do?
• Cataract Case Finders• Drive on motorbikes in their catchment area
villages all week screening for potential patients
Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi October 2010
£20
• Patients receive: • Accommodation• 3 meals a day• Surgery• Medicines• Glasses if needed• Transport
Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi October 2010
A Patient’s Journey
• In the mobile clinic
Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi October 2010
A Patient’s Journey
• In the hospital
Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi October 2010
A Patient’s Journey
• Back at home with the family
Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi October 2010
A New Life
Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi October 2010
A Patient’s Journey
• In the mobile clinic
Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi October 2010
A Patient’s Journey
• In the hospital
Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi October 2010
A Patient’s Journey
• Back at home
Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi October 2010
A New Life
Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi October 2010
Why do we do this?
• Because of CBM’s support• Because people in rural Malawi do not have the
means to travel and pay for surgery• Because blindness is avoidable• Because of the burden of the disability on the
person, their family and community
• Because everyone has a Right to Sight
Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi October 2010
But why?
• Humanitarianism• Honouring a person’s dignity, who does not have a
choice
Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi October 2010
cbm
• Largest international organisation tackling disability
• Experience of over 100 years
• 10 million cataract operations performed
• Koano kwa tsopano, moano ma tsopano• New sight, New Life
Nkhoma Eye Hospital, Malawi October 2010
Thank you..
• And 10 million times again, Thank You.
QuickTime™ and aCinepak decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Thank you..