An eye team from an East African hospital has visited Altnagelvin Hospital to mark the start of a new programme to tackle child blindness.
Elaine Way, ceo Western Health Trust and Dr Humphrey Kiwelu of Mbeya Referral Hospital signing Memorandum of Understanding.
The visit by the team from Tanzania marked the beginning of the VISION 2020 links programme, a major international effort to improve eyecare in developing countries.
This year, staff from the Western Health Trust’s Eye Department in Altnagelvin Hospital have developed a new partnership with Mbeya Referral Hospital (MRH) in South Western Tanzania.
The MRH team were accompanied by their Deputy Hospital Director from Mbeya Referral Hospital in South Western Tanzania,
Mbeya Referral Hospital serves five regions and there is only one ophthalmologist to serve for six million people, therefore there is a huge need for eye care services in this area.
To set up the project Trust clinicians, nurses and orthoptic staff, made up of Dr Rosie Brennan, consultant ophthalmologist; Ivan Drinan, optometrist; Lesley Davis, orthoptist and Doreen Baskin, theatre nurse, visited Tanzania for a week to observe practices.
In return, Dr Barnabas Mshangila, ophthalmologist; Emmanuel Santuri, orthoptist; Norda Ndolezi, orthoptist and Nurse Rosemary Mwakingili, along with Deputy Hospital Director Dr Humphrey Kiwelu visited Altnagelvin Hospital to see first-hand the treatments and services the Western Health Trust provide.
At the end of the return visit, a detailed three year activity plan was drawn up by the two teams laying out what the programme will address and achieve.
Western Trust ophthalmologist Dr Rosie Brennan led a previous successful VISION 2020 Link with ECWA Eye Hospital in Kano, which encouraged her to get involved for a second project.
Dr Brennan and her team’s experience in developing children’s surgical eye care services in Nigeria means that they have been able to quickly adapt to working in the challenging situation in Mbeya.
Dr Brennan said the Tanzanian link would be “quite different” from that in Nigeria as the focus was determined by the needs of the individual unit.
She added: “Currently there is a need for improving regional awareness of the eye department to increase population coverage and encourage earlier referral.
“Visual outcomes following cataract surgery could be significantly better with customisation of intraocular lens power. A lot of equipment in the hospital is no longer functioning, limiting the quality of care possible. Graham McFarlane, our biomedical engineer on the team, will work with a counterpart in Mbeya to repair as much as possible”.
During the visit a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Western Trust chief executive Elaine Way and Dr Humphrey Kiwelu of Mbeya Referral Hospital which establishes a teaching link between the Trust and the Tanzanian hospital as part of the VISION 2020 Links programme
Mrs Way said she was delighted to have the Trust committed to the VISION 2020 Links programme for a second project.
She added: “It is heartening to know that our Western Trust staff will be working with their Tanzanian colleagues in this VISION 2020 programme and that they will be sharing skills which will benefit children in Mbeya Referral Hospital.
“I commend Dr Rosie Brennan and the staff in the Western Trust’s Ophthalmology department for their commitment to developing and establishing the VISION 2020 link for a second project.”
Mrs Way concluded: “The initiative has received significant support not only from colleagues but across the wider community. I look forward to seeing how eye care services in Tanzania will be improved as a result of the link with the Western Trust.”
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