Ophthalmic outreach will help 1.5 million blind people

MAUI, Hawaii — In the world today, 90% of children who are blind live in developing nations. Nearly half of these children are blind due to an illness that could have been prevented, Susan H. Senft, MD, FRCOphth, said here at Hawaii 2003: the Royal Hawaiian Eye Meeting.

“In developing countries, children become blind from avoidable or curable conditions like cataract, trachoma, retinopathy of prematurity, vitamin A deficiency, measles or infection,” Dr. Senft said.

According to Dr. Senft, ophthalmologists can help relieve the burden of childhood blindness by offering their services to nations in need of care.

She cited statistics from Bangladesh where there are only 650 ophthalmologists for a population of 160 million, and not one pediatric ophthalmologist.

“One way of engaging physicians is by offering fellowships in pediatric ophthalmology to treatment-warranted nations,” Dr. Senft said. She said, humanitarian organizations, such as project ORBIS, sponsor fellowships that encourage young physicians to travel and provide free services to local children who are at risk for vision problems.

“Another solution is to become a visiting professor and travel to countries to address specific diseases,” Dr. Senft said. With fellowships, diseases the physician sees here in the United States “are not the same diseases they’re faced with at home. For instance, pediatric cataract is very low here, but extremely high in a country like Bangladesh.”

A higher level of care may be attained by giving lectures, presenting at meetings and providing hands-on surgical supervision to local doctors and medical workers, she added.

According to Dr. Senft, the need for a “unique, comprehensive approach” to eradicating childhood blindness is necessary to reduce the burden of 1.5 million children under age 16 living with blindness worldwide.