Hundreds of Kwale residents have benefited from free eye testing, consultations, and cataract surgeries following a surge in cataract-related complications in the coastal county.
The free medical camp was organised by Kwale County in partnership with the Kuwait Embassy in Nairobi and Safe Surgical Aid to alleviate the plight of people living with cataracts.
At least 500 people have undergone free cataract surgery and other related eye problems at health facilities in Matuga, Msambweni, Lunga Lunga, and Kinango subcounties.
A cataract is a clouding of the lens of the eye, which is typically clear, and for people who have cataracts, seeing through cloudy lenses is like looking through a frosty or fogged-up window.
Clouded vision caused by cataracts can make it more difficult to read, drive a car at night, or see the expression on a person’s face.
Cataract is a reversible cause of visual impairment and a common disease among the rural poor, but the high cost of the surgery prevents many low-income earners from accessing treatment to restore their vision.
Hordes of residents registered for the operations in Matuga, Msambweni, Lunga Lunga, and Kinango subcounties, hoping to have their eyesight restored.
Kwale Governor Fatuma Achani, who has launched the free medical camp, noted that hundreds of area residents are visually impaired due to cataracts, one of the major causes of blindness.
Governor Achani, accompanied by County Health Executive Francis Gwama, explained that the beneficiaries were diagnosed and screened by specialists in their communities before being invited for surgery at the health facilities at no cost.
She promised that all cataract patients discovered during the county’s free health programme would be operated on free of charge. “We want to assist the needy and those who cannot afford the cost of such operations to live more meaningfully and engage in economic activities,” she said, adding that the healthcare needs of the people were on top of her agenda.
She said the medical camp will not be a one-off exercise, adding that subsequent eye screening and surgical operations to provide free surgeries to patients suffering from cataracts, glaucoma, and other eye diseases would be organised by the county with other stakeholders.
Achani says the four-day medical camp seeks to protect the ageing population and residents from blindness, adding that, according to experts, eye care is one of the greatest public health challenges in Kenya.
She welcomed the partnership between the county, the Kuwait Embassy, and safe surgical aid to reach out to those who are affected by cataracts and other eye-related ailments and combat them in their early stages before they become complicated and more difficult to remedy.
“The medical camp is a significant step in combating important community health issues such as vision impairment,” she said, adding that cataracts and other eye ailments were identified during the screening as major conditions which usually affect the eye and degenerate into glaucoma.
She went on: “The collaboration between the county government, the Kuwait Embassy, and safe surgical aid is a testament to the power of partnerships in addressing important community health issues and making a more significant impact on the well-being of our people.”
She said those that need drugs will be given drugs, those that need glasses will get them, and those that have cataracts will be taken to the theatre for advanced surgery, all free of charge.
Achani also had the opportunity to go into the operating theatre at the Kwale Referral Hospital and witness cataract surgeries. She shared time with patients who were recovering from surgery and wished them well.
She said through the outreach medical camp, eye services are taken to the doorsteps of patients who may not be able to afford to go to specialised eye hospitals in big towns given the high cost of having eye cataract surgery.
Achani says most of the people affected live in rural and far-flung areas where poor nutrition and limited access to eye care can mean a life limited by needless blindness.
She said cataracts are a major cause of blindness, particularly among the elderly, and urged people in the region not to miss their chance to recover full vision.
By Hussein Abdullahi
