35,000 Sabahans with eye woes: Rotary cataract camps for all districts
Published on: Thursday, May 02, 2024
The second camp was held at Dewan PPR in Taman Korongkom Jaya, Kota Marudu, as part of the third series of the Gift of Sight Cataract Camp carried out by the Rotary Club of Kota Kinabalu along with eight other Rotary clubs. (Pic: Jeremy S Zabala)
KOTA MARUDU: The Rotary Club of KK South will hold cataract screening in eight more districts starting with Ranau (May 12), Pitas, Beaufort and Kudat with the involvement of Rotarian medical professionals, nurses, cataract finder volunteers and optometrists.
They would provide services including registration, eye screening by trained cataract finders, eye examination by optometrists and doctors for referral cases or records.
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“The identified referral patients will be given pre-determined appointment dates by the doctors to visit their respective district hospitals for final assessment, including final confirmation by Ophthalmologists from HQE.
“The cataract patients will be informed of the date for surgery,” said Club President Carlwin Yee.
The programme aims to help rural villagers suffering from eyesight issues like cataracts, glaucoma or other eye ailments to help the B40 group in obtaining necessary eye screening as well as treatment.
Sabah faces a substantial cataract challenge, with over 35,000 individuals in need of surgery.
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The incidence of blindness due to cataracts in Sabah is alarming – at 1.1 per cent that affects more than 30,000 people.
The contributing factors include poverty, limited awareness and reduced access to eye surgery services.
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Over 500 people in Kota Marudu and Kota Belud already had their eyes tested.
Some 99 reading glasses were also distributed in the second exercise in Kota Marudu in its “Gift of Sight” series.
For the past years, over 2,000 Intraocular Lens (IOL) for cataract patients under two Global Grants Gift of Sight Sabah (1.0 and 2.0) were provided.
The Rotary Gift of Sight Project Cataract Camp 3.0 aims to complement the government’s efforts in eliminating avoidable blindness and strive to enhance the lives of rural communities.
This is a collaborative project with the Ophthalmology Department Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) and nine other Rotary Clubs in Sabah comprising RC Kota Kinabalu Pearl, RC Kota Kinabalu, RC Likas Bay, RC Kota Kinabalu South, RC Tanjung Aru, RC Luyang, RC Kinabalu Sutera, RC Penampang and RC Kota Kinabalu Mandarin.
Some 3,000 people throughout Sabah are expected to benefit from the free eye screening service following sponsorship worth RM253,000 through collaboration between Rotary Club Kota Kinabalu Pearl (RCKK Pearl) and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS).
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