A TEAM of six eye specialists and 25 other medical personnel from the USA have camped for one week at Bugando Medical Centre (BMC) for cataract surgery to older persons and children.
Bugando Referral Hospital Ophthalmologist, Dr Christopher Mwanansao, said the team arrived at the hospital from two eye institutions from the United States of America, Utah State, Cornell Hospital, Moran Eye Centre and Weill Cornell Hospital.
Dr Mwanansao noted that the team would have a one-week special programme to perform cataract surgery on children, older persons and women who had both eye disease and cataract problems.
Cataract surgery is a procedure to remove the lens of a human eye performed by an ophthalmologist and in most cases, replace them with artificial ones.
Normally, a person may undergo cataract surgery after his or her eye lens experience problems.
He said the presence of the team at BMC had helped to provide cataract surgery and it would offer training to BMC eye doctors and nurses so that they could increase skills of providing medical services to the hospital and other regional hospitals.
“At the moment, we have only four ophthalmologists at BMC. In this programme we have also included other doctors from Simiyu and Kagera regions to work together with this team,” he explained.
He said the coming of the team had reduced the cost of cataract surgery and other optical problems down to 50,000/- from 320,000/-and he asked Lake Zone residents with cataract problems to utilise the opportunity, saying cataract surgery had no negative effects.
“For the elderly (men and women) with cataract problems let them come here. We will attend to them,” he said adding, that BMC had improved eye services.
He added that besides cataract surgery, the team had also helped the hospital with various medical equipment such as beds, sterilisation machines used in cataract surgery and one ultrasound machine.
“The team has also conducted training to 23 nurses to enable them to understand how various cataract surgeries and procedures are organised,” he said, adding that 115 patients had undergone cataract surgery out of the target of 200 patients that would undergo cataract surgery.
For her part, the team’s programme manager from Global Outreach Division Moran Eye Centre Lori Mccoy said his team was pleased with the government’s warm welcome from the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children and BMC management and it would work tirelessly to ensure all people with cataract challenge would undergo surgery.
“We aim at helping more than 200 people with cataract problems to recover and enjoy life,” said Mccoy and urged people with cataract problems to use wisely the time provided by his team to get treatment.
Speaking after they had undergone successful cataract surgery, some of the patients who underwent cataract surgery at BMC praised the medical team for their support.
For his part, Mr Deogratias Buholela (70), a Rumala resident in Pasiansi Ward in Ilemela, said he had experienced eye problems since 2017 and when he planned to go for treatment, he was told that he would not see after undergoing cataract surgery.
“Today I am here. I have undergone cataract surgery and now I can see well without any problem,” he said.
For her part, Ms Lucia Jackson (84) from Manyamanyama in Bunda District in Mara Region said she went to hospital after she had come from a different hospital and she wasn’t cured, but after she had undergone cataract surgery at BMC she was cured.
“Now look at me, and I see you too,” she Lucia with a smiling face.
