By Oumar Sankare
BAMAKO, Mali (AA) – Senegal on Thursday performed the West African nation’s first eye transplant.
President Bassirou Diomaye Faye called the milestone a “big step for eye health in our country.”
Cheikh Khadim Ndoyem, an ophthalmologist, and Dr. Awa Diama Thiam performed the cornea transplant.
Ophthalmic surgeon Andre Mermoud and Dr. Felix Hammer supervised the procedure, which was carried out at the Swiss Visio clinic in Saly Portudal in the seaside resort of Thies.
The landmark operation combined “local expertise and international training,” said the president.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the African region is seeing a decrease in vision loss due to vitamin A deficiency, onchocerciasis, and trachoma, but emerging eye health challenges are growing.
One in every six blind people globally live in Africa, along with 26 million others grappling with some degree of visual impairment, it said in a report last week.
Statistics show only 14% of people who need cataract surgery receive it, while more than 80% of people with shortsightedness receive no treatment.
In addition, only 12% of people in Africa who need glasses or surgical interventions to address blurred vision will receive the necessary care, at significant economic cost to countries.
“The global estimated costs of uncorrected refractive errors and cataracts is $14.3 billion annually,” said the WHO.
*Writing by Riyaz ul Khaliq in Istanbul