President Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera on Monday hosted Dr. Breno Tavares Nogueira, Honorary Consul Designate of Brazil to Malawi where the latter promised to send cataract experts to Malawi to offer services to many citizens who are suffering from eye problems.
The Brazilian Consul Designate, who was accompanied by the Malawi deputy ambassador to Brazil, Hon Dzoole Mwale, disclosed at the meeting that his country will construct a specialized Cataract Surgeries Hospital in Malawi, that will deal with the numerous eye problems currently affecting Malawians. In addition, Brazil commits itself to offering free initial eye surgeries to 1000 Malawians in appreciation to the good bilateral relationship prevailing between the two countries.
“After finding that Malawi has a great demand for cataract surgeries, they asked us to do something. Malawi has a lot of blind people that can see again after surgery, so as an Honorary Consul Designate, the consulate is donating 1000 surgeries to the Malawi people as a start point, and I hope it will be a nice one,” said Nogueira.
Related to the above, Nogueira also revealed that his country will establish a cataract surgery school with an aim of imparting knowledge to Malawians on comprehensive eye care.
Speaking to a reporter after the meeting with the state president, Nogueira disclosed that Brazil is committed to extending its support even to other sectors of the economy such as agriculture, solar energy and construction.
In his remark, President Chakwera commended the Brazilian government for its initiatives aimed at addressing Malawi’s cataract challenges.
On her part, the Minister of Health Hon Chiponda, when asked by the reporter for her comments, gave an overview of the support from Brazil especially on the initiative to combat cataracts. In addition, it is the same Chiponda who recommended the Brazilian Government for their impactful contributions to Malawi’s health sector, a move that gave rise to the meeting with the state president.
According to the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS), cataract is the number one cause of blindness in Malawi, contributing to half of all cases in persons aged 50 and above. ESCRS also notes that there is massive capacity gap in terms of trained personnel who can carry out cataract surgeries since there are only 14 Ophthalmologists available against a population of 20 million citizens in Malawi.
As a temporary remedy to fill the gap, the National Eye care program decided to “Task Shift” and recommended that mid-level health personnel known as “Cataract Surgeons” should be allowed to operate.