Shared Vision: A Partnership to Provide Cataract Surgeries in Peru
August is Cataract Awareness Month in the United States, calling attention to the debilitating effects of cataracts on populations both here and abroad. While cataracts are preventable and relatively inexpensive to treat, they are the leading cause of blindness in the developing world, where many communities lack access to basic health services. In Peru, for example, where authorities in 2007 reported 83,000 untreated cataract cases nationwide, many impoverished people cannot afford the surgeries needed to have their cataracts removed. The untreated cataracts can result in blindness, which in turn results in the loss of independence and economic productivity – adding increased hardship to communities that are already economically depressed.
In response to this crisis, and at the invitation of the Peruvian authorities, the Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative (CGSGI) and Fundación Carlos Slim (Carlos Slim Foundation) designed an innovative project that is supporting 50,000 additional cataract surgeries in Peru over four years. This includes the delivery of surgeries to poor and remote areas where surgeries were previously unavailable. Since the project’s launch in June 2009, more than 6,000 surgeries have been completed, restoring hope to individuals and their families who have long suffered without treatment.
“The Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative...will help close the gap between the cataract operation needs for the poor and what the government can provide,” says Camilo León Castro, the CGSGI country manager for Peru. “Almost 80 percent of the cataract operations needs will be covered in Peru.”
The project is also creating opportunities for renewed economic livelihood for both the cataract surgery patients whose vision is restored and the family members whose economic options have been constrained by their need to be full-time caretakers.
“I am sure that many of them wouldn’t receive services without the help that we are able to provide,” said Dr. Manuel Pierce of the Sacro Cuore Clinic in Lima, Peru. “And we only play a part of it, and we know that, thanks to the help from the Foundation and other organizations, we are able to do our work.”
Aside from providing direct patient care, CGSGI’s cataracts program is also working to boost the ability of the Peruvian Ministry of Health (MINSA) and the private sector to respond to the growing cataract problem in the country. To accomplish this, CGSGI and the Fundación Carlos Slim partnered with MINSA, leading health NGOs, physician groups, and private clinics to improve the efficiency of patient handling—including outreach, screening, surgery, and post-surgical care—resulting in cost decreases and capacity increases for both clinics and physicians. CGSGI closely monitors the progress of this program through an innovative web-based data-collection system.
CGSGI also tracks the economic impact of the surgeries on individuals, families, and the community as a whole. To date, a large majority of patients have reported renewed independence post-surgery: up to 67 percent indicate improvements in work-related activities and their ability to care for children.
“I couldn’t see anything,” said a patient at the Sacro Cuore Clinic. “They operated on my left eye first. It was a joy to see even my family.”
