Working in partnership with local Ministries of Health, Helen Keller International (HKI) works to improve the accessibility, efficiency and quality of cataract treatment and surgical care. The program provides necessary training and equipment to local ophthalmologists and healthcare facilities and ensures appropriate aftercare for surgery patients, steps that improve surgical quality and outcomes. HKI’s integrated CCC model leverages and improves the ability public facilities to deliver cataract interventions. The model includes enhanced patient education and outreach efforts to increase the demand for services and the training of healthcare personnel to properly identify and refer patients in need of eye health services. Furthermore, the program aims to increase access to cataract services for poor patients through the adoption of a high-volume, low-cost service delivery model.
The program focuses on developing a quality assurance mechanism through an eye health monitoring and evaluation system, one that is also instrumental in patient identification and tracking of the delivery of post-surgery and other follow-up services. The CCC model has been established at hospitals in underserved provinces. In 2008 alone, that partnership led to 1,515 free surgeries.
HKI has helped to train surgeons, nurses and community health workers, sets up referral services for those afflicted, and provides medical equipment and technology for sight-restoring surgery. The price of the cataract treatment varies from one area to another, but can cost the patient as little as $12-$100.
