Sompeta to Sinazongwe
50 years of commitment
to eliminating avoidable blindness
Dr. Santosh Moses
Assistant Director – Eye Health
Operation Eyesight Universal
Operation Eyesight Universal
Beginnings
 Inspired by Dr. Ben Gullison, a Canadian doctor
 Founded in 1963 by Art Jenkyns, a Calgary
businessman
BEN GULLISON
 First program partner: Arogyavaram Eye Hospital,
Andhra Pradesh
 Original focus: cataract elimination in developing
countries
ART JENKYNS
3
Operation Eyesight Universal
WELL DRILLING, SINAZONGWE
Today’s focus
 Building health systems
 Addressing root causes of blindness
 Promoting people’s participation
 Ensuring quality and sustainability
4
India and Africa
 Places of great need, but also
where we can make the
greatest difference;
 …where we can address the
root causes of avoidable
blindness
 …where governments show a
concern for and commitment to
improving the health of their
citizens
Our priority initiatives
 Hospital based community eye health
 Building the capacity of hospital partners
 Training and professional development
 SAFE strategy to address trachoma
Success along the way
Success is a journey, not the destination
 Hospital-based community eye Health
projects in India
•
support the communities to eliminate avoidable
blindness from within
 Water and sanitation projects in Africa
•
going beyond winning the fight against trachoma
Today
Arogyavaram Eye Hospital
Sompeta, Andhra Pradesh, India
 Partnership since 1963
 Operationally sustainable
 Screens over 65,000 and treats over 10,000
annually
 Surgical conversion rate of 85%
 Spectacle conversion rate of 90%
 Cluster-based plans to eliminate avoidable
blindness from 3 blocks in the next 2 years
Today
Sinazongwe Trachoma Project
 80% of households struggle with poor





sanitation and lack of clean water
Current trachoma reduction project
employs the full SAFE strategy
OE has provided 60 wells, government of
Zambia contributes drilling, equipping and
monitoring expertise
Villagers maintain the wells once
operational
Latrine coverage improved from 17% to
33%
Benefits of abundant clean water go
beyond eye health
●
Sinazongwe
The way forward
 Strengthen linkages between primary eye care
and primary health care services
 Improve surgical outcomes to meet international
standards
 Support hospitals to become financially
sustainable
 Strengthen people’s participation and promote
effective and enduring relationships between
hospitals and target communities
Leading to:
 Reduction in avoidable blindness
 Improvements in overall health of communities
Thank you