Blindness Prevention in South Sudan

Nyaruac Matai was completely blind from bilateral cataract. Her situation made her totally dependent on her daughter for everything including mobility. She could not cook, fetch water or tend her garden to gather the most necessary things to eat. For more than three years, Nyaruac’s days were filled with total darkness and depression until a mobile eye care team came to save her sight a few months ago.

Thanks to her cataract surgery, Nyaruac can see her grandson!

After a tiresome four weeks journey by foot, passing through swamps and mosquito infested forests, Nyaruac arrived at the health care unit in Keew where the cataract surgeon Francis Sempele and his team were conducting cataract and trachoma surgeries.
She was operated on her right eye. Next morning, Francis Kempele removed the eye bandage. "How many fingers?" he asks. And to Nyaruac’s great joy and the joy of all the spectators, she could count his fingers held up! Nyaruac could see!

Thanks to her cataract surgery, Nyaruac has gone from being dependent to independent. "I will be able to cook, grind, fetch water and to prepare my small garden", she says with a broad, happy smile. "And I can see my grandson!"

LIGHT FOR THE WORLD supports mobile units providing vital eye care services to the people of South Sudan

Blindness is a major health problem in South Sudan given high prevalence rates of trachoma and onchocerciasis in addition to cataract (the leading cause of blindness), glaucoma and childhood blindness. South Sudan, with an estimated population of 10 million people, is emerging from a long civil war, which had a profound impact on the health care infrastructure resulting in nearly non-existing services for prevention or treatment of eye diseases. LIGHT FOR THE WORLD supports mobile units which have been providing vital eye care services to the people of South Sudan conducting 624 cataract surgeries in 2007. They are an icon of hope for many people like Nyaruac.

In order to make best use of available specialised staff and facilities for eye services, coordination among the stakeholders is a must to meet the most urgent needs and to avoid duplication of efforts. Subsequently, regular Co-ordination meetings are held; they are called in by the Ministry of Health to share information on both plans and experience.
The 3rd Eye Care Co-Ordination meeting took place last November in Juba.
Based on the existing National VISION2020 Plan for South Sudan, indicators for monitoring and evaluation have been discussed and the National Plan itself has been updated.
A Co-Ordination office for VISION2020 is to be set up under the auspices of the Ministry of Health, with advocacy high on the list of priorities.
In addition to the support of the VISION2020 Program in Jonglei State LIGHT FOR THE WORLD will also explore possibilities to set up an Eye Unit in Mundri (Western Equatoria) in the near future.
To provide people in South Sudan with permanent eye care, LIGHT FOR THE WORLD is building an eye unit in Mapourdit (Lakes State). This is going to be the first in a region with a population of 1.8 million. Until permanent units are built, the deployment of mobile eye care teams will continue to be necessary in several regions.