PROJECTS

PROJECT Korora 2018

Location: Kisii & Nyamira counties, Kenya, Africa

Project Dates: September 2-6, 2018

Purpose: Lay the groundwork for a Diabetic Retinopathy screening program

Background

Kisii and Nyamira have a total estimated population of 2.0 million individuals, with a 61% poverty rate.

The rate of diabetes is increasing in Kenya and as many as two-thirds of diabetics may be undiagnosed. One-third of the diagnosed diabetic patients may have a sight-threatening complication called diabetic retinopathy (DR).

DR is an important cause of visual loss worldwide. The vast majority of patients do not develop visual symptoms until very late in the disease process. This disease is easily diagnosed visually by an eye exam from a trained professional.

We are partnering with the Innovation Eye Center (IEC) at the Kisii Eye Hospital in Kenya to lay the ground work for a DR screening program for the local communities that are not close to an eye hospital.

There is currently no DR screening programs in Kisii and Nyamira counties. With your help, we can change this in order for Kenyans with diabetes to retain their visual actuities.

MEET THE TEAM

These are the three individuals who, with your help, can make a difference

William plum

Dr. Plum just recently graduated from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and is on his way to becoming an ophthalmologist. He has already had the privilege to lead a project in Maputo, Mozambique through a different nonprofit.

jayant Iyer

Dr. Iyer is a consultant with Singapore National Eye Center. He is the founder and director of The Vision Mission Singapore. He has extensive experience with setting up sustainable eye-care programs across the globe.

Chitaranjan Mishra

Dr. Mishra is a Vitreo-retinal surgeon at the world renown Aravind Eye Hospital in India. He uses his expertise to treat complicated retinal cases. He is passionate about medical missions and has worked extensively in underdeveloped areas of India

Trip summary

Day 1

We met Dr. Kiage, CEO of the IEC, and visited the facilities to learn about the resources available for the treatment of DR
The IEC is the only place where DR patients living in Kisii and Nyamira counties can get the appropriate treatment

day 2

Our team visited an eye screening camp set up by the IEC
Participants screened primarily for cataracts and are not screened for diabetes or DR
We toured the Kisii Teaching and Research Hospital and met with their CEO in order to discuss our goals

day 3

We visited another site which regularly hosts eye screening camps
This was followed by a visit to the Nyamira County Referral Hospital
We concluded our trip with a meeting with Dr. Kiage in order to discuss our plan for a successful DR screening program using what we had learned

the plan moving forward

We aim to create the first successful Diabetic Retinopathy Program in Kisii and Nyamira. This cannot be done without your help!

Eye Screening Camps:
All patients will be screened for diabetes with random blood sugar testing.

Kisii Teaching and Research Hospital:
All diabetic patients will undergo fundus photography (a picture of their retina) and the photos will be screened for signs of DR

Nyamira County Referral Hospital:
All diabetic patients will be examined for DR by an ophthalmic clinical officer

All patients found to have DR that needs laser treatment, will be referred to the Innovation Eye Center at the Kisii Eye Hospital ( the only center with this technology)

We estimate 80 diabetic patients per week (240 patients per month) to get DR screening from the 2 centers. Of those 240, we expect 80 patients to have some form of DR. Furthermore, of these 80 patients we expect 20-30 to require treatment at the Innovation Eye Center. We expect only 10-20% of these patients to be able to afford treatment so we anticipate to have 20-25 patients per month who would require KES 5000 (USD $50.00) per treatment. We estimate a monthly cost of USD $1250.00 for the year which would translate to $15,000 for the year 2018.

Previous projects

Although Project Korora will be the first undertaking of The Vision Mission USA, The Vision Mission Singapore has undergone multiple, successful projects.

Project Netra

The Vision Mission (Singapore) partnered with Trilochan Netralaya in Odisha, India to set up a sustainable eye care program in the impoverished regions of Western Odisha in 2014. Since our involvement, more than 3000 patients have gained vision through cataract surgery. In addition many have benefited from our diabetic retinopathy screening and management program. TVM has sent numerous experts to train personnel in optometry and subspecialist subjects including Medical Retina and Glaucoma through Continuing Medical Education programs. TVM hopes to exit the project by 2020 by when we aim to have a fully self sustaining secondary ophthalmic institute to cater to the needs of the populace.

Project Sri Lanka

TVM (Singapore) was invited by Vision 2020 (WHO initiative) in Sri Lanka to help perform 500 cataract surgeries in Vavuniya, Sri Lanka in 2016. The project was a success and we look forward to working together with local surgeons in the future to set up more sustainable eye care programs for the needy in the region.

The Vision mission singapore