Jamaicans who have been waiting to undergo cataract and other eye surgeries can now breathe a sigh of relief as the Jamaica-Cuba Eye Care Programme is set to resume by the end of the quarter.
During a tour of the operating theatre and clinic facilities at St Joseph’s Hospital on Friday, Jamaica-Cuba Eye Care programme coordinator, Natasha Biggs, said more than 8,000 Jamaicans are on the waiting list for cataract surgery, and about 3,000 are awaiting laser surgery to treat diabetic retinopathy.
The programme was suspended in February 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the expiry of the contract period.
Health and Wellness Minister, Dr Christopher Tufton, said a technical team, inclusive of ophthalmologist and Cuban coordinator for the programme, Dr Mayra Chaveco Almanza; biomedical engineer, Leandro Velazquez Varona; and Cuban medical brigade coordinator, Dr Katie Ochoa Aguilera, have been in Jamaica since last December assessing the equipment, medication and other medical sundries for the restart of the programme.
They will remain in Jamaica until the programme resumes and will be joined by other medical staff, which will round out the team to 19.
The team will comprise five ophthalmologists, a medical doctor, two optometrists, nurses, biomedical engineers, anaesthetists and pharmacists.
“We want to reassure Jamaicans that help is on the way, live and direct from Cuba, in collaboration with the Government of Jamaica, and we hope to give them a clearer vision in the not-too-distant future,” Tufton said.
100 surgeries per week
Biggs shared that each week, four days will be spent solely conducting cataract surgeries and the fifth day split between cataract and pterygium surgeries.
A pterygium is a raised, wedge-shaped growth of the conjunctiva that extends onto the cornea – the outer layer of the eye.
“The plan is to do 100 surgeries per week, so we are aiming to do 20 per day and, with the clinic being on the same compound, unlike before, we will have the opportunity to insert patients and get the waiting list down to a manageable size,” she detailed.
Biggs said sufficient resources are available to begin the programme, and Tufton pointed out that the Government will be engaging in tighter collaboration with the Cuban authorities to ensure continued supply of materials, which has, in the past, limited the team’s ability to be consistent in carrying out procedures.
“Where there are gaps, the ministry will pick up some of those costs to sourcing some of the material, so that we will have a consistency of flow,” the minister said.
Meanwhile, Tufton said more screening will be conducted by the Cuban team as eye care is an underserved area of healthcare in Jamaica.
“We have requested some added optometrists to do roving testing. Previously, the Jamaica-Cuba Eye Care Programme was a stationary programme, but now we will have some additional expertise to do screening and, hopefully, we’ll have a rotation throughout the country or in particular areas,” Tufton detailed.
In 2019, the last full year of the Jamaica-Cuba Eye Care Programme, the team conducted 1,576 cataract surgeries, 304 pterygium surgeries and 905 laser surgeries for diabetic retinopathy.
