The eyesight of more than 100 people will now be better than before, thanks to an outreach program that is dedicated to the prevention of blindness. Since Friday, Tagbilaran City is hosting a medical surgical outreach program for the prevention of blindness. The operations during the outreach were performed by a team from the Philippine Academy of Medical Specialists (PAMS) led by Dr. Federico Malubay. Malubay, chairman of the PAMS outreach and community services, heads the team that is composed of two surgeons and opthalmologists, five nurses and allied health workers. Aside from Malubay, the other members of the surgical outreach team are Ervieneth Catindoy, Glaisa Manayan, Mariejoy Balanza and Emma Ruth Jose of the Mary Chilles Hospital in Sampaloc and Maj. Reynaldo Capuz, MC and HM2 Urbano de Vera of the Manila Naval Hospital in Fort Bonifacio .

The venue for the operations was the new MMGHSC or Coop Hospital in Dampas courtesy of Dr. Benjamin Galia, hospital director. Meanwhile, the pre-screening was done at the City Health Office under Dr. Albert Jones, city health officer. In addition to the surgical operations, the beneficiaries also received medications provided for the pre-operations and post-operation requirements lasting up to three or four weeks. As of Saturday, the team performed 80 cataract and 25 teridium procedures. Some 30 cataracts and 12 teridium cases were scheduled for operation on Sunday. It was gathered that 60 patients who underwent EOR refraction no longer required operations. The team initially set a target of only 100 beneficiaries but the number of operations was raised to 147 due to the high turnout of beneficiaries. A total of 300 patients from Tagbilaran alone underwent screening while 80 more from different towns in the province were accommodated.

The city government provided for the transportation, accommodation, venue and coordination with the beneficiaries for the mission. The members of the team will be back within 20 to 30 days for follow-up to ensure the success of the program. According to the World Health Organization, 180 million people all over the world are suffering from preventable blindness. Cataract cases abound not only in the Philippines but all over the world.   “In our country, every locality has its share of senior population normally not reached by tertiary medical care considering that the usual focus is on primary health care,” Malubay said. The medical mission head noted that for this reason, medical-surgical intervention is needed. “It is incumbent upon those who have the influence to become the channel for positive action to reach out to this population segment in recognition of their contribution in the pat and as a reaffirmation of the valued Filipino tradition of caring for them,” he added. Tagbilaran Mayor Dan Lim expressed his gratitude to the members of the team for their passion to work for the prevention of blindness. “The worst thing that can happen to a person is not doing anything when he is in the position to do something to meet a particular need,” the mayor said. He also thanked former Councilor George Lao who was instrumental in arranging the medical surgical outreach. ( CARLEEN ANGELICA YAP )