A campaign of free cataract operations

"If I could, I'd propose three projects a year!"

Gilles Venambre

After having successfully completed a campaign of cataract operations in Rabat, Adeframs (Association pour le Développement des Échanges Franco-Marocains et Sénégalais) plans a new series of operations in the suburbs of Dakar between December 10 and 14, 2007.

Cataract, a disease that progressively opacifies the crystalline lens of the eye, ultimately causes blindness. It may be congenital and damage the view of infants, or strike elderly persons. In hot countries, due to exposure to fierce sunlight and the presence of many sand particles in the air, it affects a large number of persons. In Senegal, doctors estimate that today, 500 000 persons - out of a total population of 11.6 million - are developing a cataract leading to blindness at some time in their lives. In fact, the ablation of the crystalline lens that has become opaque, and its replacement by an implant, is a relatively harmless eye operation, but is much too expensive for the poor families.

Objective: 250 operations

Faced with this situation, Adeframs is mobilizing eye surgeons and anesthetists to offer free operations to persons suffering from blindness due to cataract.

From December 10 to 24, 2007, 250 persons wishing to have the operation will be welcomed and cared for in the Institut de Prévoyance des Retraités du Sénégal. They will receive an implant free of charge and can thereby recover their sight. An information campaign will be deployed in print and by broadcast, particularly in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods of the Senegalese capital - particularly Pikine. The Moroccan Ministry of Health is backing this operation by providing Adeframs with doctors who have already participated in this type of campaign in Morocco. 1 500 persons recovered their sight at the time.