The Mpumalanga Department of Health has officially launched a cataract operation marathon.

The aim is to reduce the province’s surgery backlog.

Currently, the province is facing a backlog of more than 3000 cataract operations.

This was revealed during the launch of the program at the Ermelo Regional Hospital, as part of the commemoration of National Eye Care Awareness Month.

As the country observes Eye Awareness Month, cataract patients, who have been waiting for many years are finally set to receive help. More than 550 patients will benefit from the provincial Department of Health’s Cataract Operation Marathon.

The program runs from September 20 to October 17 across various provincial centers. Among those who have already undergone surgery are Juana Khoza and Constance Shongwe, who expressed gratitude to the department for this program.

“I couldn’t see and I always relied on people to do things for me. I hope now I will be able to do things on my own. I will cook for myself and I can even walk on my own without any help as I have received this help,” says Khoza.

“I am very thankful because now I can see. I arrived here a month ago and I was struggling to see. It was dark but now I can see and I am grateful,” says Shongwe.

Health MEC Sasekani Manzini says the goal is to perform more than 550 operations by the end of the initiative on the 17th of October.

“I must indicate that 75% of blindness is avoidable through prevention, treatment and also rehabilitation. Hence today we are here as part of making sure that we deal with the backlog and we must indicate that in terms of the 3 382, our challenge now is Gert Sibande, and Nkangala District. That’s why we started the  programme. We had planned on 100 cataract operations at one point and that also assisted us because we were able to reduce those numbers from 24 000. We are going to continue. Most of our target are old people,” says Manzini.

Eye specialists Dr Vian Ortega says due to the high demand of these operations; this initiative helps to relieve the strain.

“We are welcoming this initiative of doing the marathon because in a very short period of time we do a number of operations like we do in usually two months of working. We do that in one week. The work is a little bit impossible because the demand is much higher,” says Dr. Ortega.

MEC Manzini states that the province has faced challenges in attracting and retaining specialized Ophthalmic staff, which significantly contributes to the backlog.

“People don’t want to work in the rural provinces. However, we are also trying to take our own so that they go and specialise but also we make them understand. I have asked them to help us recruit people that they know that they studied with,” says Manzini.

Manzini encouraged the public to take advantage of Eye Awareness Month by checking their eyes to prevent avoidable blindness.