Cataract surgeries off to smooth start

HEALTH MINISTER John Rahael yesterday said a joint initiative by the Government and the Ophthalmological Society of Trinidad and Tobago (OSTT) to undertake 3,000 cataract surgeries this year, has commenced with over 50 surgeries being performed at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital  over the weekend. Rahael told Newsday that the process of screening persons for the surgeries and the actual operations went smoothly and he was pleased to see that the initiative had started off on the right foot. He added that all efforts were made to ensure that the patients were properly cared for, including the provision of meals following their operations.


The Minister said screening of cataract patients will continue, with surgeries to be held at POSGH, San Fernando General Hospital and the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex (EWMSC). At a post-Cabinet news conference at Whitehall in March, Rahael announced that Government had accepted OSTT’s proposal to undertake the surgeries at a cost of $7.5 million and provide all surgical services, free operating assessments, post-operative care for the patients up to two months or longer and all the materials to perform the surgeries. “The Ministry of Health will provide patients from the hospital waiting lists and arrange for them to appear for screening by the Society.


In this regard, the Regional Health Authorities have been mandated to develop a reliable patient database of all listed patients requiring cataract surgery,” he said. Rahael also said that to prevent a reoccurrence of cataract surgical backlogs, Government had allocated a $2.5 million to establish a state-of-the-art eye surgical theatre at the EWMSC which will deal with all major eye diseases and disorders. He expressed optimism that this theatre will be established “in a matter of months, and said while cataract surgeries will be undertaken at the nation’s hospitals, they will have the option of referral to this theatre.

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"Cataract surgeries off to smooth start"

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