National 9 (Spotlight Weekly)

Visionary Innovation

Israeli doctors teach new techniques in ophthalmic surgery

By NIRAJ POUDYAL

For decades, Nepalese have been told that blindness is one of the major health problems of the country. What is less known, however, is that the condition can be prevented and cured. According to a study conducted by the World Health Organization and His Majesty's Government in 1979, 80 percent of blindness cases can either be prevented or cured through appropriate and timely intervention.

Seventy-eight percent of the preventable cases are due to cataract, which is the leading cause of blindness in South Asia. In the past, the treatment of cataract was quite complex. Infected eye lens had to be surgically removed and a thick eyeglass put on, without which the patient would be almost blind.

Doctors at the program : Visionary innovation

Then came along the technique of replacing the infected lens by an artificial one. This technology enabled the patient to see perfectly without an eyeglass. Still, the patient took two months to recover from the operation.

With the advent of new technology, the same operation now takes 15 minutes. The patient can go about his or her normal routine within 24 hours. Nepalese patients, too, can now avail of this innovation.

A group of senior Israeli ophthalmic surgeons recently arrived in the country to teach Nepalese doctors this technology. The visit by the Israeli doctors was made possible jointly by Nepal Ophthalmic Society (NOS), Mashav Cooperation, the government of Israel and Nepal Eye Hospital (NEH).

A practical training and demonstration program on the latest surgical technique, known as Phaeco-emulsification, was held for Nepalese doctors from August 14 to 21 at the NEH. A delegation of eminent Israeli surgeons, Prof. Dr. Dov Veinberger, Dr. Moshe Lusky and Dr. Slomi, organized the camp.

The new technology uses a folding lens that replaces the unhealthy one almost without hurting the eye. In earlier technology, the lens that was replaced was non-folding. Hence, it was hard to insert it into the patient's eye.

"But this technology uses a folding lens to replace the ill lens, which is cleared out by breaking it into tiny pieces through the natural opening of the eye," said Dr. Banshi Krishna Malla, medical director of the NEH, who is also director of the NOS, at a press conference.

One drawback is the high cost of the equipment and the lens. "A single folding lens costs Rs. 10,000," said Dr. Malla. "The non-folding lens used to be imported from the United States at 25 to 50 US dollars per piece. But as soon as NEH started production in Nepal, its price came down by 15 times (to less than 4 US dollar)," Dr. Malla added. "The cost of folding lens, too, will eventually come down."

Forty-eight patients benefited from the technology during the training. The Israeli team provided the lenses free of cost. The Continuous Medical Education program of updating and uplifting knowledge of important diseases like glaucoma, vitreo-retinal and related problems was another significant aspect of the program.

"These kinds of programs are very useful for our ultimate goal of VISION 2002: The Right to Sight," said Dr. Malla. He said such programs would continue in days to come. "This program has opened the doors of hopes for Nepal's blind patients," said Avraham Nir, Israeli ambassador to Nepal.