The Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in collaboration with the Himalayan Cataract Project has conducted a three-day free cataract surgeries worth over Ghc70,000 for patients in the Greater Accra Region.
The project took place between 14th and 16th July, 2022 and more than 50 patients benefitted from the service under the care of highly skilled professionals.
Some patients could however not be attended to due to the high numbers, others also presented with conditions other than cataract.
According to a member of the surgical team, Dr. Alex Kwaku Addo, the free surgeries were organized because there are a lot of people suffering from eye problems.
He said with cataracts, the whitening of the eye was reversible by surgery but due to poverty, some patients are liveing with it and other underlying conditions.
Dr Addo said it was for this reason that the free cataract surgeries were organized, to reach out to such persons who cannot afford the cost of the surgery.
He said “there was a high patient turnout but they could not all be taken care of”, adding “we also had a short timeline to handle the cases”.
Dr Addo also said, “some of the patiens had underlying conditions like diabetes which had further deteriorated the eye, in addition to the cataract.
“During the procedure, we had complications from these conditions and some people also, the cause of the cataract was as a result of an infection they had in the past”.
This, he said complicated some of the procedures, adding, “apart from that, most of the complications we saw were those that we expected when performing cataract surgeries”, Dr. Addo noted.
Some beneficiaries interviewed could not hold back their joy as they thanked the doctors, nurses, the surgical team and organizers for restoring their sight.
