EYE hEAR Foundation, Inc. (formerly Cataract Foundation Philippines, Inc.) started in 1992 with a MISSION: Eliminate avoidable blindness and a VISION that no one should go needlessly blind. Having been exposed to the poorest communities in the country, we found out that the concerns regarding hearing impairment is 3 times bigger than vision impairment. Thus, in 2003 our hEARing Center was born to respond to the Prevention of Deafness and Hearing Impairment.
Miyerkules, Enero 28, 2009
VMO session 2
our historical VMO session
Miyerkules, Oktubre 8, 2008
project cycle management of cbm in parque españa
Francis won't miss posing in the garden. ;-)
this is the view from our room ;-)
after a series of sessions....
...we went out to the nearby Festival Mall and Francis tried the chair massage for only P19.99. it was fun ;-)
more sessions...some cbm partners in the Philippines were invited to go through the PCM.
Barney, the resource person, doing the 'tree problem'
open discussions among the participants. Mr. Naas of Inclusive Education in Baguio, Barbie of IDEA Bohol, and Mavis of Cataract Foundation. standing behind listening is Barney.
picture taking in the pool and jacuzzi in the penthouse of Parque España.
appreciating the corridor design
Huwebes, Agosto 21, 2008
we began with one small step
Negotiations were made with Riverside Medical Center, the best private hospital in Negros, whereby indigent patients could have their cataract surgeries at an affordable cost. The surgical supplies and hospital bills were funded by the Foundation.
The number of referrals and surgeries increased dramatically that in the first two years almost a thousand cataract surgeries for poor patients were done per year. Health professionals, community workers of NGOs and village health workers were trained to identify cataract and motivate patients to submit for surgery. Initially, the lone surgeon was Dr. Fortunato Eusebio (at this time 2 of his children, Jay and Cristina are in the team). It was most rewarding to see vision being restored to so many poor people. By working together, ordinary people (like non-medical staff, field workers and patients who had successful surgery and their families) were responsible for the high referrals.
In 1995 the Regional Director of Christoffel Blindenmission (cbm) saw the potential of Cataract Foundation becoming a model project and recommended partnership. CBM recognized the excellent efforts and surgical skills of Dr. Eusebio and a very committed Board and decided to make CFPI a center for learning, teaching, inspiring and motivating other young ophthalmologists and other non-government organisations. CFPI took on the role of managing funds, equipment, medicines and surgical supplies, and coordinating the eye work nationwide.
During the span of 13 years, CFPI has this total output:
218,000 cataract surgeries
- 69,000 other sight-saving surgeries
- 151,000 pairs of spectacles were dispensed
One of the notable features which the Foundation has done was to train ophthalmologists on Small Incision Sutureless Cataract Surgeries (SISCS), a cost effective alternative to the high-tech very expensive phaco and harnessed private ophthalmologists to volunteer their services for indigent patients with strong emphasis on community approaches to eye work.
The Foundation has been centrally involved in the development of Vision 2020 strategies - a global initiative by WHO for the elimination of avoidable blindness. The tasks of CFPI include mobilizing the community and creating awareness about cataract, training of health workers, rural health physicians, and community-based field staff of non government agencies in identification and referral methods.
CFPI initiated a noble idea called Munting Doktor or Little Eye Doctor project. Grades 5 and 6 pupils (11 and 12 year olds) were trained in a simple way to check the eyes of their grand parents and elderly neighbors. When identified, the children would either refer their ‘patients’ to a health center or a community eye worker will go to the school to do a final screening and refer the patients for surgery.
The 3 eye diseases identified by Vision 2020 that are significant in the Philippines as preventable and curable are cataract, errors of refraction, and childhood blindness. Cataract remains the main thrust of the program but we are also conscious of the growing need to address childhood blindness and errors of refraction. We are working closely with pediatric ophthalmologists or pediatric inclined ophthalmologists to create awareness among family physicians, pediatricians and to improve the early identification and referral of children with eye problems. We have mobilized the society of optometrists in some provinces to help with the screening of students 12-18 years old.
CFPI works in a cost effective manner, enabling it to provide services to a large number of beneficiaries in a country where a large and increasing proportion of the population live in poverty, and where access to medical eye services is limited to those who can afford to pay or are covered by medical insurance. Today, CFPI works with more than 20 other non-government organizations, 30 government ophthalmologists, and around 400 partner agencies and private ophthalmologists covering in 79 provinces.
Monitoring and evaluation procedures are in place and conducted periodically by the consultant and staff to ensure quality service delivery. Cost recovery is achieved through sponsorship from service clubs and private individuals and donations. Bulk purchasing of consumables reduces cost considerably. These are some of the methods to reduce dependency on foreign funding and an attempt towards sustainability. However, with indigent patients as the main target group, and the ever growing economic crisis it will be some years before greater local government and community participation, a national insurance scheme and increase in the national budget of the Department of Health for prevention of blindness will make it possible for CFPI to be completely self-sustaining.
Confucius once said, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” Cataract Foundation took that first step 14 years ago. With dedication of purpose and commitment to serve, we have been able to make a paradigm shift in the minds and hearts of many young ophthalmologists to journey with us in Restoring Sight and Transforming Lives to thousands of Filipinos.