30 get free surgery at Trinidad Eye Hospital

THIRTY eye patients benefited from free eye surgery on Monday at the Trinidad Eye Hospital (TEH) in Woodbrook, sponsored by Caribbean Vitreous and Retina Surgery Ltd (CVRS), Good Health Medical Centre and the Diabetes Association, plus others.

CVRS and TEH stakeholder engagement manager Franka Mohammed told Newsday that since 2015, these two organisations had provided 326 free eye surgeries.

"Today we are doing 30 – 25 cataract surgeries and five vitrectomy surgeries." The latter was done on diabetic patients and included a reattachment of the retina inside the eyeball. It addressed a condition known as sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy.

Mohammed said surgery attempts to correct that condition, but if it the condition is too bad, the surgery might not help.

She said the day's surgeries were being done by two consultant ophthalmologists, Dr Ronnie Bhola and Dr Dorian Dwarika, leading a team of doctors. Bhola heads CVRS as CEO and TEH as chairman.

Mohammed said cataract surgery would normally cost $12,000-$14,000, and vitrectomy surgeries cost up to $30,000.

The total value of the cataract surgeries was $300,000, said a CVRS/TEH statement.

Mohammed said, "Every year we have an overwhelming number of requests. We can't do all, because of the costs and the time."

She said this programme has a waiting list of 100 patients.

"We don't turn people away. We add them to the list."

She said some people might not be able to afford surgery or alternatively might wish to pay part of the cost, with the hospital assessing each patient on a case-by-case basis.

She said the Diabetes Association offers free eye screening for people with diabetes, saying, "You'd lower your risk of losing your eyesight."

Reporters spoke to patient Deotee Rajkumar, after she emerged from having cataract surgery on one eye.

She said, "I feel real good, real good. No problems. The surgery was a success and it was good.

"I praise God for that."