Fred Hollows Foundation South Africa Facilitates Ophthalmology Conference with Mercy Ships Surgeon

March 3, 2010 - PRLog -- The Fred Hollows Foundation South Africa recently facilitated an ophthalmology mini-conference at their flagship Sabona Eye Centre at the Frontier Hospital in Queenstown in the Eastern Cape.

The keynote speaker at the mini-conference, which took place on 17 February, was Dr Glenn Strauss, Director of Mercy Vision, the ophthalmology section of Mercy Ships’ operations, and Senior Vice President of Healthcare Development at Mercy Ships. Dr Strauss addressed Eastern Cape Ophthalmologists from the public health sector on the benefits of Manual Small Incision Cataract Surgery (MSICS), which he describes as an “elegant, sutureless procedure.”

Cataracts are a clouding of the lens, the part of the eye responsible for focusing light, and producing clear, sharp images. Cataracts cause images to look blurred or fuzzy, and can prevent people from performing basic tasks like reading or driving.

Cataracts are leading cause of blindness globally, except in the most developed countries.  In the Eastern Cape Province, an estimated 30,000 people are cataract blind.

Dr Strauss, who performs around 30 cataract operations a day when the ship is docked using the MSICS technique the mini-conference focused on, explained that this type of surgery is ideal for situations where high quality, high volume output is desirable without high-tech equipment.

Other benefits are that it is flexible, that it can even be performed in high-risk cases, that it is quick and efficient, has a low cost per case and requires no sutures.

However, he cautioned that just because it is low cost does not mean it is low skill, but that in fact it requires a great deal of skill, and mastery is required before it can be utilised.

According to Dr Strauss, the technique is being used extensively in India and Nepal with great success, and since South Africa shares many of the socio-economic circumstances with these countries, can be as successful here. “South Africa and the Eastern Cape are at the beginning of seeing the benefits of this procedure,” he said.

Where this technique is used he said that patients “become confident.”

Dr Strauss performed two cataract operations to demonstrate the technique to the surgeons attending the conference.

The Fred Hollows Foundation South Africa, which has been working in partnership with the Eastern Cape Department of Health for 9 years to prevent blindness in the province, initiated the relationship with Mercy Ships, from which the province benefits tremendously.

In 2009 Dr Strauss trained Dr Tuswa over a six week period, on board Africa Mercy, whilst it was docked in Benin.  He is scheduled to train a further two Ophthalmologists during 2010.

Dr Strauss says he sees a “real excitement” from his trainees, a “sincere desire to be a part of the solution.” He describes Dr Tuswa, his latest trainee, as a leader, and praises his skills.

Africa Mercy (the ship), spends 10 months per year docked in a country, where it provides free surgery and medical care to the residents of that country. This year, Mercy Ships will be in Togo until August.

As part of his relationship with the Fred Hollows Foundation South Africa, in the latter part of 2010, Dr Strauss will spend two months in the Eastern Cape Province, assisting the Department of Health in the area of eye care.

Dr Strauss will aim to assist in facilitating change in eye care, encouraging leadership in the academic sector in the field of ophthalmology; promoting the development of champions for MSICS in the healthcare system and assisting with the refinement of surgical techniques and skill.

Strauss said that the Fred Hollows Foundation South Africa plays a critical role in keeping the focus on blindness in the province, and in overcoming the inequalities in healthcare in the province.  

For more on the Fred Hollows Foundation South Africa, visit www.hollows.org/South_Africa.