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HelpMeSee aims to eliminate cataract blindness in Gambia

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HelpMeSee is collaborating with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in Gambia to eliminate the cataract surgical backlog in Gambia by 2018.

“We have great lessons to learn from our experience in Gambia and have a strategy to reach every blind and visually impaired person in the country,” Jacob Mohan Thazhathu, HelpMeSee president and CEO, said in a press release. “There is no reason for tens of million worldwide to lack access to the basic surgical care they need because there are not enough trained providers.”

Cataracts cause as much as 62% of blindness in Gambia, according to the press release.

HelpMeSee brings two of its technologies to the partnership: the HelpMeSee Reach App for patient services, including screening and follow-up, and a pre-sterilized kit for manual small incision cataract surgery.

Health care professionals who have used the app report improvements in the patient process and expect to be able to identify patients faster than before, according to the press release. The surgical kit will help to improve quality assurance and lower infection rates.