WHAT IS THE RIGHT TO SIGHT EYE CARE CAMPAIGN?

The Facts

• Cataract is a gradual clouding of the lens of the eye, which obstructs the passage of light, eventually leading to blindness.
• Cataract blindness is curable through the most cost effective surgery there is (World Bank report)
• Cataract is the leading cause of blindness in South Africa. Currently an estimated 160 000 South Africans are blind as a result of cataract.
• This excludes the new cases that develop each year. To eliminate the backlog and deal with the new cases, State Health Services need to do 90 000 cataract operations per year. Currently only 25 000 operations are performed annually by the public sector.

THE OBJECTIVE

The objective of the Right to Sight Eyecare campaign is to eliminate cataract blindness in South Africa within the next five years.

The Plan

This is to be achieved by increasing cataract surgery in the public sector from 25 000 to 90 000 procedures per year over five years, augmented by 12 000 operations annually in the private sector. The cost of the campaign is estimated at R220.00 million.

• Government has agreed to increase its surgical capacity by 25% per annum. Even at this increased rate it would take 15 years to eliminate the cataract backlog.
• The Right to Sight Eyecare Campaign is therefore mobilizing both public and private sector resources in this project.
• The private sector will fast track the project by conducting an additional 12000 operations annually over the next five years.
• As a result of the Campaign, 160 000 people will regain their capacity for independence and productivity.
• Thousands of families will be relieved from the need to care for blind relatives.
• South Africa will be the first developing country in the world to eradicate cataract blindness in its population.

PARTNERS AND SPONSORS

A comprehensive fundraising and implementation strategy has been developed by the Bureau for the Prevention of Blindness in collaboration with, and the endorsement of, a wide range of patrons, partners and sponsors:

• The national and provincial departments of health
• Private hospital groups
• The Ophthalmologic Society of South Africa (OSSA)
• The South African Optometric Association (SAOA)
• The ophthalmologic departments of leading universities
• The World Health Organization and
• International non- governmental organizations (e.g. the Christoffel Blindenmission, the Fred Hollows Foundation, Lions Sight First and St John’s)

The Bureau, a division of the South African National Council for the Blind, will coordinate and manage the Campaign.

THE BUREAU FOR THE PREVENTION OF BLINDNESS

The Bureau is a registered welfare organization, founded in 1944 to meet the growing need for an effective national eye-care programme aimed at preventing blindness.

Since then the Bureau has screened close to one million patients, issued over 100 000 spectacles and performed 50 000 sight restoring operations.

The Bureau focuses on reaching people with eye diseases in underserved rural and township areas. Tours are undertaken to all nine provinces.

Through its comprehensive National Eye Care Strategy, the Bureau annually screens more than 30 000 patients, issues 12 000 pairs of spectacles and performs more than 4000 surgical procedures.

Central to the Bureau’s strategy, however, is the establishment of permanent eye-care centers, as these will significantly enhance the public sector’s capacity to offer effective eye care services. At the same time these centers are pivotal to the success of the Right to Sight Eyecare Campaign in the public sector.

RIGHT TO SIGHT EYECARE CENTRES – INCREASING PUBLIC SECTORS CAPACITY

The establishment of 33 strategically situated Right to Sight Eyecare centers is the key component of the Campaign strategy to increase the public sector’s capacity to deal with cataract. After five years, these centres will be taken over by the Provincial Departments of Health, ensuring that the additional surgical capacity generated by the Campaign will continue into the future. Maximum use will be made of existing structures and facilities to ensure the increased rate of surgery. The plan embraces the upgrading of the facilities, increasing the staffing and extending the patient screening ability of each centre.

THE PRIVATE SECTOR CONTRIBUTION

The right to Sight Eyecare project is receiving massive support from the private sector. The Ophthalmologic Society of South Africa and the South African Optometric Association have committed themselves to augmenting the public sector’s contribution to the Campaign with an additional 12 000 cataract operations annually for five years. Optometrists will provide screening tests and if necessary spectacles at a much reduced cost. Ophthalmologists have agreed to add two patients per week to their operating schedule, free of charge. The entire operation, including consumables and the use of the hospital facilities, will cost R1650 per eye, a fraction of the normal cost.

It is estimated that the contribution by our optometrists, ophthalmologists and private hospitals will amount to R75 million over five years.

THE PARTICIPATION CRITERIA: PATIENT

• The patient must be a South African citizen (ID document is required)
• The patient cannot belong to a medical aid
• The patient must earn less than R 2000.00 a month
• The patient is blind due to cataracts with a visual acuity of 6/36 or less in the best eye

Participating procedures are as follows:

• The optometrist assesses the patient and determines whether he/she qualifies for the RtS project. If the patient qualifies the optometrist completes the prescribed form and faxes it to the RtS office. There is necessary information on the form that we need in order to register the patient.
• The RtS office issues a registration number and faxes the form back to the optometrist who in turn arranges a visit for the patient to a participating ophthalmologist. The patient takes the patient registration number (a copy of the form) with when visiting the the ophthalmologist. The registration number is an indication that the patient has been to an optometrist and qualifies for the operation. A list of participating ophthalmologists is available on request.

Please note:

• The RtS form must be used and not the optometrist's letterheaad.
• Make sure that the patient qualifies. The ophthamologist may ask the patient to pay the consultation fee if the patient does not qualify.
• It is not the patient's responsibilty to either complete the form or make the appointment with the ophthalmologist - unless otherwise informed.

OPHTHALMOLOGIST:

• The patient will see the ophthalmologist, with his ID document and a copy of the registration number.
• The ophthalmologist must negotiate with a hospital/clinic and pharmaceutical companies to ensure the best possible rates for theatre time, consumables, lenses, visco-elastics, aneathetist's time, etc.
• If the patient presents at the ophthalmologist without a patient registration number - the Bureau for the Prevention of Blindness should be contacted and the patient duly registered.
• The ophthalmologist will fill in the form from the Bureau and get a surgical number from them, after which which he will do the surgery.
• The patient must pay a fee of R 2,200-00 to the surgeon. This will be distributed as follows: R 2,000-00 for theatre time and the cost of all consumables, and R 200-00 for registration and administrative fees to the Bureau.
• The ophthalmologist will give the Bureau the outcome statistics as required by the project outlines.

VISION 2020

The Campaign complements the ideals and aims of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness campaign, ‘’vision 2020 ’’, aimed at eliminating avoidable blindness by the year 2020. Vision 2020 involves the active participation of United Nations agencies, governments, eye care organizations, health professionals, philanthropic institutions and individuals working together in a global partnership to accomplish this goal.