Doctors seek sponsors for cataract surgery
Written by Writer on Tuesday, November 18th, 2008
Doctors seek sponsors for cataract surgery
Ophthalmologists are seeking sponsors to help them cut the lengthy administrative procedures required to carry out charity cataract surgery for the poor.
The Indonesian Association of Ophthalmologists (Perdami) chairman, Tjahjono Ghondowiardjo, said sponsorship from companies and NGOs would allow members to hold free surgery for patients without the red tape.
“Although patients under the Health Insurance Scheme for the Poor (Askeskin) are able to undergo free cataract surgery at general hospitals, we see that the required administrative procedures are too long. They sometimes find it difficult to arrange the documents,” Tjahjono said Saturday.
“At our charity events, we cut the bureaucratic requirements. The patients only need a letter from the local administration certifying that they are poor.”
He said many Jakartans living below the poverty line suffered from cataract disease.
According to the Jakarta Statistics Agency, there are 405,700 poor people living in the city out of a total population of some 9 million, as of March 2007.
“Cataract disease affects people with poor nutrition, and low-income families usually cannot afford food,” Tjahjono said.
“About 60 percent of cataract patients are those who come from low-income families.”
Although the organization did not have a figure on the number of Jakartan patients, the association performs around 10,000 free cataract surgeries every year.
As of August, the association performed about 1,500 cataract surgeries around the capital, said Ruswandi from Perdami.
“The number could be higher if more donors supported the program,” he said.
Perdami is cooperating with some foundations and firms, including the Lions Club Indonesia Foundation and Dharmais Foundation, to conduct free cataract surgeries for poor people.
“We hope more institutions, as well as individuals, will give assistance to our programs,” Ruswandi said.
Cataracts are the main cause of blindness in Indonesia. It is a degenerative disease, where the lens crystallize and become thicker as people get older.
Patients need to undergo cataract surgery to avoid blindness.
Around 210,000 people suffer from cataract disease every year in Indonesia, while only 60,000 surgeries are performed.
According to the Household Health Survey, 3.1 million Indonesians were reported as blind in 2006, with 7.8 percent of cases due to cataract disease.
Triwik Kurniasari , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Tue, 11/18/2008 12:37 PM | City
