National Cataract Outreach Program Event in Eastern Region of Ghana

In partnership with Ghana’s National Cataract Outreach Program (NCOP), and led by HCP Co-Founder, Dr. Geoff Tabin, HCP Partner, Dr. Bo Wiafe, a team from Ghana Health Services’ (GHS) Eastern Regional Hospital in Koforidua, Ghana provided 302 sight-restoring cataract surgeries from April 23-26. The team included NCOP’s Eastern Region Zonal Leader and local ophthalmologist from St. Dominic Hospital, Mercy Dawson; HCP board member, Dr. Guy Kezirian; HCP Ghana Country Representative, Dr. Oscar Debrah; GHS Representative, Dr. James Addy and Resident Peter Ackah.

The NCOP was developed in collaboration with stakeholders representing public, private and NGO entities in an effort to address the backlog of cataract blindness and improve cataract care at the national level.

HCP Board Member, Guy Kezirian shared his reflections on the experience:

“I had the privilege of attending the Koforidua campaign of the NCOP program in April 2019.

The campaign was inspiring to witness. The coordination of HCP \| CureBlindness with the Ghana Ministry of Health (GMH) was excellent, both operationally and as a cohesive team. HCP \| CureBlindness’ country lead, Oscar Debrah, MD was present the entire time and was fully engaged.

The postoperative days were joyful for patients and staff alike. Many lives were impacted. The promise of the NCOP program to eliminate needless blindness from cataracts throughout Ghana seems attainable, though surgical volume will need to escalate significantly to clear out the backlog of approximately 185,000 patients.”