Cataracts are leading cause of preventable blindness

Cataracts remain the leading cause of blindness globally, despite being completely preventable. In South Africa, an estimated 250 000 people are blind due to untreated cataracts.

Even though cataract surgery is one of the most cost-effective medical interventions, between 40-60% of those suffering from visual impairment experience vision loss directly due to cataracts.

According to Dr Bayanda Mbambisa, chair of the Right to Sight Trust, the non-profit initiative of the Ophthalmological Society of South Africa (Ossa), although cataracts develop gradually after the age of 40 due to normal eye changes, accelerated vision loss is also found in younger patients or those with diabetes.

In SA access to care was a major challenge for patients due to many public hospitals lacking ophthalmologists, the necessary equipment or even the consumables required for surgery.

This results in a growing backlog of patients with some waiting more than a year for surgery.