Prevent and Treat Visual Impairments

Medicor Foundation has been supporting the Austrian organisation on blindness prevention in Sofala since 2007. In partnership with the Central Hospital of Beira an ophthalmic unit and a programme for promoting eye care in Sofala has been set up. Today the eye unit serves as a training centre for ophthalmic technicians and general health workers. It covers all 13 districts of Sofala Province through outreach campaigns. Eye health services were decentralized and 26 primary eye care units are now operational in all districts. The main focus was to strengthen the eye units in terms of management and coordination. 45 000 consultations were undertaken at primary eye care units annually, which shows that the decentralization of the eye health services has proved to be effective. During the three years, 2 070 patients suffering mainly from cataract were operated on.