CONTINUING OUR QUEST FOR A CARIBBEAN, FULLY COMPLIANT WITH THE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF VISION 2020 THE RIGHT TO SIGHT
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA
As we prepare to launch Eye Health Services in four Health Facilities across Antigua and Barbuda, CCB-Eye Care Caribbean awaits employment of four Refractionists and a complement of Dispensing Clerks, by the Ministry of Health.
Several months ago, the requisite instruments of approval were delivered to the Ministry of Health by the Cabinet Office and we continue to expect that the employment of the required personnel is imminent.
As soon as the employment processes are completed and the Refractionists have their letters of appointment, CCB Eye Care Caribbean will commence the installation and testing of Diagnostic Refractive and other systems, which the Refractionists and their colleagues will use to examine and treat their patients. Services should begin with in a matter of weeks, following employment of the Refractionists.
Fabrication of spectacles in Antigua and Barbuda
Finishing equipment and material required to commence fabrication of spectacles here are now in place. CCB-Eye Care Caribbean continues to await access to suitable buildings on the Holberton premises. Based on recent conversations with officials at the Ministry of Health, suitable access should be granted during the month of August.
Once completed, CCB-Eye Care Caribbean will configure an emergency production Laboratory to produce spectacles outstanding to patients and staff of the Clarevue and Fiennes; while retrofitting of the remaining available space is being undertaken.
An experienced Spectacle Laboratory Technician from Jamaica will be given a short-term assignment to help expedite the process. Spectacles for employees and clients of Clarevue, the Fiennes Institute and Ministry of Health Headquarters will be given priority.
GUYANA AND JAMAICA
Nurse Joyce Gooden from the Eye Clinic at the Mandeville Regional Hospital in Jamaica and Nurse Sonia Morris from the Linden Hospital in Guyana are currently attending a six-week Course in Eye Theatre Procedure Management, at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Dominica. The programme will be completed in the third week of September. Upon completion, both Nurses will return to their respective Hospitals, to lead the commissioning of Eye Surgeries in newly established Eye Theatres.
HAITI
The Regional Maintenance Manager with the CCB/Eye Care Caribbean, Henry Latty, is scheduled to install Diagnostic and Surgical Equipment at the Petionville and St. Marc District Hospitals in Haiti. Mr. Latty will install and test the systems in August. Eye surgeries should begin at both facilities in the last quarter of 2013.
HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
As recruitment continues for the Academic Year 2013 – 2014, seventy Optometry Students will be in training at the University of Guyana for the start of the ensuing Academic Year. Twelve Ophthalmology Residents continue training in: The Dominican Republic; Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico and Paraguay. The first of this batch will return to start work in St. Lucia in September of this year.
In the meantime, ten candidates for the Certificate in Refraction Techniques are preparing to commence their Course of Studies in October. Applicants are being selected from: Jamaica, Haiti, Antigua and (possibly) St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
At least three Spectacle Dispensing Clerks will commence a 1-month training programme in Antigua and Barbuda in a number of Health Centres. The successful candidates will join the Refractionists in delivery of class (I) Eye Health Services across Antigua and Barbuda.
INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
Along with new Eye Theatres in: Linden, Guyana, Mandeville (Jamaica), Petionville and St. Marc (Haiti), CCB Eye Care Caribbean, in association with Sightsavers are supporting the development of a range of Spectacle Laboratories and associated systems in a number of countries across the Caribbean. Additionally, we are in the final stages or ordering Vision Centre equipment for Clinics in: St. Lucia, Guyana, Jamaica and Haiti.
DISEASE CONTROL
We are in the final stages of preparations to implement a multi-country KAP (Knowledge Attitudes and Practice) Studies
re: Glaucoma. Data will be collected and analyzed from: Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and St. Lucia. The Principal Investigator for the study is Dr Dawn Grosvenor of Barbados. Additionally, we are in the early stages of selecting a Principal Investigator for an international Study to determine how much, persons with Diabetes know of and understand about Diabetic Retinopathy, which is a leading cause of incurable blindness in the Caribbean.
In preparation for the possible launch of a major regional programme of screening for and treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy, we are finalizing documentation to start consultations which could lead to the start of such a programme by the first quarter of 2014. There are approximately sixty thousand persons who are blind in the English-speaking Caribbean. Almost 30 thousand are needlessly blind from Cataract and we are determined to change that.