About the project
Cataracts is the leading cause of blindness in Douala, Cameroon.
It causes 50% of blindness in the country, yet it costs just US$30 for a simple 15 minute operation which can restore a person's sight.
With a population of 2 million Douala is the most populated city in Cameroon and is growing fast. There are 20,000 blind people and 60,000 people who suffer low vision in the city.
Leading by example
This project aims to create a model hospital which can be replicated in other major cities across Africa to provide affordable eye-care to those in need. By tacking avoidable blindness we hope to give people back their independence and ability to support their family.
Our partners, Right to Sight and Acha, will provide affordable eye-care services by work to create a new eye-care hospital in Douala that will link in with existing providers to tackle the backlog of blindness and low vision patients.
By 2013 we aim to:
- Establish three vision centres in targeted urban areas,
- Conduct 7,900 cataract operations and 1,450 other operations,
- Screen 75,000 people,
- Screen 5,000 children,
- Perform corrections on 24,000 cases of refractive error,
- Distribute 14,000 spectacles.