Project report

Project overview:

An estimated 30,000 people are cataract blind in the Eastern Cape Province, the majority of whom have little access to eye care services.  This project aims to provide comprehensive primary eye-care training for nurses to improve treatment and prevent avoidable blindness.  It works on a trickle down effect throughout the local health system from trained ophthalmic nurses in the hospital system through to a grassroots level provided by community health workers.

The project costs include:

• Training of 12 ophthalmic nurses at a local college for one year including registration fees, text books and teaching materials costs
• Training of 36 professional nurses through 2 day workshops that are run by the 12 opthalmic nurses.
• Training of 210 community health workers through 2 day workshops that are run by the professional nurses.

In total, 258 health care workers will be trained in Primary Eye Care.

Project objective and outcomes:

To provide comprehensive primary eye care training at all levels of the Eastern Cape Province's health system so that 

• A systematic approach to Primary Eye Care training is developed
• Local blindness prevention services are expanded and improved, enabling treatment for avoidable blindness
• There is increased access by the rural poor to secondary care, in particular to cataract operations.
• There is an increase in the cataract surgery rate for the province
• The training effect is sustainable and will ensure that capacity is built locally.

Background & Project Partners:

The Fred Hollows Foundation South Africa (FHFSA) aims to develop sustainable local capacity to prevent and treat avoidable blindness in Southern Africa and to act as a catalyst for improving the health of Southern Africans with a special focus on rural communities.

The Eastern Cape Blindness Prevention Partnership Program (ECBPPP) is a partnership between FHFSA and the Eastern Cape Department of Health.

Through the ECBPPP, FHFSA has renovated and equipped secondary care facilities so that cataract operations and other eye care services can be provided. This funding will support the development of a systematic approach to Primary Eye Care training and thus increase access by the poor to secondary care, in particular to cataract operations.

This project fits into the broader ECBPPP which includes building the capacity of training institutions to provide ophthalmic nurse training and  cataract surgeon training; and providing support to and training in eye care management and service delivery systems.