Mercy Ships Expands Ophthalmic Services
Eliminating avoidable blindness is emphasis of World Sight Day

12 OCTUBRE 2006 | GHANA, WEST AFRICA

World Sight day is an annual event that attention on the global problem of blindness and visual impairment. According to the WHO, eighty percent of all blindness can be prevented or treated.

	"I lost my sight on water in a boat and received my sight on water on a ship 15 years later..."

Forty-year-old fisherman Kwesi Yakosa went blind one day as he fished at sea off the coast of his native Ghana. Between one moment and the next the world went dim and blurry. Kwesi could suddenly distinguish little more than light and dark shapes. Terrified, he begged his friends to row him to shore immediately.

When it was clear he would no longer be able to provide an income, Kwesi's wife took their two children and disappeared. The occasional fish provided by his former work-mates was likely all that kept him from starving. Kwesi´s story is tragically common. There are 45 million people presently coping with blindness according to the World Health Organization. Most live in developing nations. Sight could be restored to 50% of these individuals with a simple, twenty-minute surgical procedure. However, for most, quality eye care is either financially out of reach or simply unavailable.

Kwesi related: "My pride had been shattered, I had been stripped of all I held dear. The job I loved was no more, my family was no more and my eyes were no more. As far as I was concerned, I was no longer a man.". 

But Kwesi had a happy outcome. In less than one hour Mercy Ships surgeons repaired the damage that kept Kwesi in darkness for 15 years.

"The next day, when the bandages were peeled from my eyes and I could see again, I knew it was a miracle," Kwesi says. "I lost my sight on water in a boat and received my sight on water on a ship 15 years later. Thank you Mercy Ships for allowing God to use you to bless many like me. You have restored the ability I needed to survive, and I can now do things for myself. It is my prayer God grants you strength and many blessings in all you do."

Dramatically expanded services

In response to the global needs of the blind, Mercy Ships has dramatically expanded eye care services. In the past, ophthalmologists and other vision professionals with Mercy Ships served largely on a short-term, rotating basis. Now, a resident ophthalmologist and associated support staff have been added to the full-time crew of the Mercy Ship.

This baby girl was examined during the Alafia mobile eye team screening August 29. She was scheduled for surgery to correct her crossed eyes.

As a result, the number of patients Mercy Ships treats will increase dramatically: 4000 people a year will receive cataract surgery; 800 children will have their crossed eyes corrected, eliminating a socially stigmatizing condition; 800 more will receive various other ophthalmic surgical procedures; 200 will receive ocular prostheses to replace eyes lost to injury or disease, ending physical discomfort and restoring appearance.

Deploying additional eye care specialists also allows Mercy Ships to support sustainable vision care solutions. Mercy Ships surgeons have already trained a number of Ghanaian doctors in advanced surgical techniques. At the village level, community health workers are being trained to treat simple complaints and to recognize more serious conditions requiring professional care.
According to Dr. Glenn Strauss, VP HealthCare and International Programmes, Mercy Ships is also partnering with programs like Unite for Sight and Vision 20/20 to network for effectiveness on the ground in countries where the Mercy Ships operates. Mobile teams provide a steady stream of pre-screened patients and eye health education in the poorest communities have also been added.

"The treatments for prevention and cure of blindness are among the most successful and cost effective of all medical treatments," states ophthalmologist Dr. Glenn Strauss. "Low vision and blindness has profound socio-economic consequences, yet vision problems can only be eliminated by access to sight saving medical and surgical help."

ABOUT WORLD SIGHT DAY: World Sight Day is an annual event on the 2nd Thursday of October which focuses on the problem of global blindness. It aims to raise public awareness around the world about the prevention and treatment of loss of vision. According to the WHO, people who live in developing countries are 10 times more likely to go blind than people who live in highly industrialized countries. Every 5 second, one person in our world goes blind