Himalayan Cataract Project E-News: February 2010February has been a busy and exciting month for HCP. Here you’ll find news of our latest international eye care activities, including:
- A successful cataract workshop at the Hetauda Community Eye Hospital in Nepal
- Cornea & cataract program in Rwanda highlighted in local newspaper
- Co-Director Dr. Geoff Tabin at the Kenyatta Hospital in Nairobi
Successful workshop at the Hetauda Community Eye Hospital in Nepal | | 
Post-operative cataract patients in Hetauda.
| | 
Dr. Ruit examines a post-operative patient.
|
The Hetauda Community Eye Hospital, upgraded from a Community Eye Center in late 2008, is fully operational. In 2009, the Hospital examined 31,752 patients and provided 1,548 surgeries onsite, with an additional 9,830 outreach screenings and 593 outreach surgeries. The hospital has been led by Dr. Kishore Raj Pradhan and Mr. Sudhir Shrestha, Administrative Officer. A successful Microsurgical Cataract Workshop was held in Hetauda from February 11 – 14 with a diverse team including two doctors from Hetauda, one resident from the John A. Moran Eye Center in Utah, two doctors from Thailand and HCP’s Co-Director Dr. Sanduk Ruit from the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology (TIO).
A total of 2,858 patients were screened and 511 sight restoring surgeries were provided. More than 525 patients were brought to the site by the local organizer after being screened by the team in their hometown prior to the workshop.
Tilganga’s Outreach Program Manager Mr. Khem Gurung reports on a bilaterally blind patient who received surgery at the workshop:
“Dhan Maya Baniya was so scared when she heard that she needed to go for surgery that she tried to run away from the hospital. She was counseled by the medical team and volunteers as well as neighbors, who were also patients. She was so happy when first she could see after removing the eye patches the morning after surgery. She had a hard time believing it. It was an amazing hour in her life. She was a widow staying with her son. She had only heard her grandson’s crying and so she was very eager to see the face of her grandson before going back to her house. She said her son, grandson and house are like a temple for her. She doesn’t need to go to the temple for worship. This was an amazing expression from her.” Drs. Tabin and Nkurikiye follow up with 22 cornea post-ops with excellent results | | 
Dr. Tabin examines a patient.
| | 
Dr. John Nkurikiye and Dr. Tabin. Photo by Ace Kvale.
|
Dr. Geoff Tabin returned to Kigali, Rwanda, this month to work with Maj. Dr. John Nkurikiye at the King Faisal Hospital. Together, they followed up with 22 corneal patients that were operated on last summer. According to Dr. Tabin, “The results of the corneal surgeries were better than expected. There were no failed or rejected grafts and no one lost to follow up. The government is very excited about the eye care project and will support John.”
Dr. Tabin’s visit was highlighted in the local Rwandan national newspaper, The New Times. Read more >
Drs. Tabin and Nkurikiye went on to complete five new corneal surgeries with corneas Dr. Tabin had supplied. In addition, Dr. Nkurikiye recently managed a high-volume cataract program in a district hospital, modeled after the high-volume delivery that Tilganga and HCP are working to replicate in Africa. Training program at the Kenyatta Hospital in Nairobi, KenyaEarlier this month, HCP’s Dr. Geoff Tabin spent three days in Kenya with Dr. Patricia Otieno, the Residency Director and Head of Anterior Segment at the Kenyatta Hospital in Nairobi. The Kenyatta Hospital is the primary training center in East Africa and trains doctors from Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Somalia and Sudan.
Dr. Tabin’s focus was to work with Dr. Otieno on cornea, cataract and anterior segment. Dr. Tabin arrived with 10 fresh corneas, several glycerine corneas, trephines and punches, and surgical instruments for corneal and cataract surgery. Together, they performed four corneal transplants, before continuing with a cataract program.
Dr. Patricia Otieno commented, “All in all, it is great ...I believe I have the energy to put into this and see our care for cornea and anterior segment patients advance. Geoff’s visit has given me a chance to lay the foundations for this at the Kenyatta Hospital.”
Dr. Tabin’s visit was a follow-up to previous work at Kenyatta in collaboration with Orbis International. Dr. Tabin plans to return in the summer to follow up with Dr. Otiento’s training and to continue the collaboration with Kenyatta’s training program.
| | 
A cataract patient in Rwanda. Ace Kvale photo.
|
The Himalayan Cataract Project works to eradicate preventable and curable blindness through high quality ophthalmic care, education and the establishment of a world-class eye care infrastructure.
Please visit our Web site at www.cureblindness.org to keep up with the latest HCP news. There you will also find information on HCP’s finances, its founders, staff and board members, and ways that you can give the gift of sight.
Remember, through the Himalayan Cataract Project it takes a gift of only $20 to provide life-changing cataract surgery to someone struggling with blindness in the developing world. |
