Cape Town - He worked as a builder for decades, but Albert Franke of Parkwood, Cape Town, can no longer do the job he is passionate about after cataracts rendered him partially blind.
“For two years now I’ve been dependent on other people to do everything for me. My vision is so poor that I can’t even cook or get water from the tap. I have always done everything for myself, and now I am almost totally dependent on others.
“I feel that I am becoming a burden to others,” he said.
But the 55 year-old may soon regain his eyesight – thanks to the eye restoration campaign run by the League of Friends of the Blind (Lofob), which has partnered with the Cape Eye Hospital, to offer free eye surgeries to destitute people who can’t afford to pay for these surgeries.
With October classified as Eye Awareness Month, the NGO and the private clinic will be assisting 100 people with free cataract removal and lens replacement surgeries.
The campaign, in its fifth year, has restored the “gift of sight” to more than 300 people in the province.
Cataracts remain the leading cause of blindness worldwide. Public hospitals are inundated with requests for cataract removal and lens replacement surgery.
Heidi Volkwijn, spokeswoman for Lofob, said cataracts not only caused temporary blindness but affected people’s ability to retain their employment.
She said the growing burden of lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, HIV, family history of visual impairments and ageing, also exacerbated the rate of blindness in the country.
“Our latest statistics show an increase in the number of referrals of individuals blinded by glaucoma, diabetes, and HIV, to name but a few,” she said.
Volkwijn said patients would have to pay about R25 000 for surgery in the private sector, while in the public sector they could wait for up to three years to have this surgery carried out.
Neil Mohamed, 58, of Steenberg lost two jobs – one as a bus driver and another as a panel beater – because of cataracts.
“My vision is deteriorating each day. I had to give up my job as a bus driver as I couldn’t even see the road signs.
“I went into panel beating, but I have since given up that up that too due to the deterioration of my eyesight.
“I can’t wait to have the surgery done so that I can provide for my family again. It feels like the process is taking too long, “ he said.
Research showed that 80 percent of blindness could be prevented or treated if it’s detected early.
Lofob executive director Armand Bam said the highest statistic of blindness recorded at the organisation over the past two years had been as a result of preventable blindness.
“We cannot emphasise enough just how important regular eye examinations are, especially for those living with chronic illnesses like diabetes and hypertension.
“It is key to saving sight,” he said.
While the provincial Department of Health couldn’t provide details about its waiting list for cataract surgery across the region, spokesman Mark van der Heever said Eerste River Hospital – the main institution for performing cataract surgeries in the public sector – had a waiting list of about two months.
A total of about 8 000 cataract surgeries were performed in the province during 2014/15 financial year.
Cape Argus