The Calp-based NGO, Visió sense Fronteres (Vision Without Borders), has just returned from Kenya, where it carried out another blindness prevention campaign. This time, they performed a total of 235 cataract surgeries in Iten, a town in the west of the country.
The medical team that traveled to Kenya consisted of two ophthalmologists, two nurses, two optometrists, and an operating room assistant. Among those who underwent surgery were a 17-year-old girl with cataracts in both eyes, which developed rapidly due to uncontrolled diabetes that had caused her to lose much of her vision, and a 19-year-old man with cataracts in one eye and strabismus (crossed eyes).
Visió sense fronteres usually carries out one or two campaigns a year in this African country, where there are very few ophthalmologists and a lack of adequate equipment for performing the surgeries, resulting in very low coverage for this condition. In fact, it is estimated that the rate of cataract surgeries in this country is around 500 procedures per million inhabitants per year, compared to 11,000 in countries like Spain. In this regard, they point out that cataracts are the leading cause of reversible blindness worldwide.
As in previous years, the Calp City Council is collaborating with Visió sense Fronteres (Vision Without Borders) on its charitable initiatives.
