SABAH MISSION FOR VISION

               Basic tools for eye examination

                                 

This is an brief interview of one of the patients who had cataract surgery (phacoemulsification) during the Sabah Mission For Vision project in Pitas

Please allow 10 minutes to load the video

On 7-11 March 2009, SMFV and MERCY Malaysia will organize an eye camp which will be held in Pitas. 

Pitas (1,419 sq km) is a town in the Kudat division, the northernmost part of the state bounded by the South China Sea on the west and the Sulu Sea on the east. Its population is estimated to be 24,240 and the main ethnic group composition is Rungus. The population density is 17 persons per sq km. 

Pitas is the poorest county in Sabah. Pitas means 'cut off' in aboriginal language. The villagers reside deep in the rainforest and their mode of transportation is by boat. Due to poor infrastructure, most of the villagers have poor accessibility to medical health care.

Besides MERCY Malaysia, the other organizations and agencies participating in this upcoming project are Asian Forestry Company, PERKIPS, Serasi Medic and Alcon.

'Most of humanity takes the gift of sight for granted. Yet no one values vision more than one who has lost it. No one cherishes sight more than one who has lost it and regained it.'

Would you like to contribute in our efforts to achieve the fundamental human right to the gift of sight for all?

Here's wishing everyone to a splendid 2009!

Dr Hj Abdul Mutalib Othman served as the Head of Ophthalmology Department, Hospital Queen Elizabeth from 2005 to 2008. For the last 3 years, he had been the key person in the running of SMFV projects.

We wish him the very best as he returns to his family in Kelantan and we hope he will return to Sabah someday.

*Please allow about 10 minutes to load the video. Video compiled by the optometrists

The 4-day Sabah Mission For Vision Project held in Kuala Penyu was a huge success. It was the first SMFV project which utilized phacoemulsification technique as the main form of cataract surgery. 

Approximately 1200 patients attended the eye screening. A total of 136 cases of eye surgeries performed; 96 phacoemulsification, 14 extracapsular cataract extraction and 26 pterygium excision. 4 private ophthalmologists from Kota Kinabalu spared their weekend and participated in performing the cataract surgeries.

The SMFV committees would like to thank all who have contributed to the project.

For more pictures, please visit:  SMFVKualaPenyu

SFMV outreach program started in January 2003. District hospitals visited in the last 5 year included Beaufort, Sipitang, Kuala Penyu, Keningau, Kudat, Ranau, Kota Marudu, Kota Belud and Pitas. However, the east coast of Sabah is not being covered due to distance and poor road conditions.

This is a concerted and focused program planned to address the problem of visual impairment and blindness related to cataract and refractive error in the state of Sabah, Malaysia. It involves participation of various governmental agencies (State and Federal), non governmental organizations, private ophthalmologists, optometrists, opticians and any interested individuals.

Objectives of project:

In 1999, when Dr Dayang Sayalam returned to Kota Kinabalu after completing her Master in Ophthalmology, she was soon appointed as the Head of Ophthalmology Department in Queen Elizabeth Hospital. As the head of eye care in Sabah, she was burdened with the fact that the state had the highest prevalence of blindness and severe visual impairment in the whole country. In addition, the poor infrastructure in Sabah had made health care accessibility almost impossible to the people in the rural areas.

With this burden, she drafted a proposal to start a community project involving eye doctors traveling to the rural areas to perform eye screening and surgeries. However, the project required man power and continous financial support. She struggled to get funds but persisted with the idea of starting the SMFV project. It was not until 2 years later when Mr William Brohier, a representative from the Christoffel-Blindenmission got to know this project from Professor Dato Dr Selvarajah. He immediately called up Dr Dayang and told her that the organization would fund the SMFV projects.

Finally, Sabah Mission For Vision Project became a reality.....

The overall adjusted prevalence for the country/ Sabah state is as follows:

1. Prevalence ofvisual impairment 2.73%/ 4.28%
   
2. Prevalence of blindness 0.29%/ 0.78%
   
3. Prevalence of Low Vision 2.44%/ 3.51%
   
4. Prevalence of Refractive Error 1.19%/ 2.47%
   
5. Prevalence of Untreated cataract 2.2%/ 2.99%
6. Prevalence of Glaucoma 0.05%