Sena Residents Get Free Eye Checkup in a Bid to Avert Cataract

Cataracts are becoming a looming threat to the residents of Sena Island as the majority of them have been registering partial or total blindness due to the eye condition.

Early detection has been a major challenge due to the lack of specialized eye care on the island, forcing only the financially abled residents to travel by water to Homa Bay for eye checkups.

Homa Bay County Teaching and Referral Hospital, in partnership with the Fred Hollows Foundation, held a free medical eye care camp in Sena to help identify early cases of cataracts for treatment.

According to Molly Ochar, the County Medical Outreach Coordinator, residents' lack of access to quality medical care has hindered them from obtaining early detection and treatment of cataracts.

“Most of the residents in Sena do not have access to medical care, we were prompted to have this free medical camp to enable them access quality healthcare that is not available in the island,” said Molly.

According to Molly, refractive disorders and cataracts were determined as the major problem the residents have, especially the elderly on the island.

“The residents on this island are suffering from refractive disorders and cataracts, we brought eye specialists and ophthalmologists who have been doing free checkups and surgeries related to cataracts.” Molly added.

Lydiah Aoko, a mother of two who has lived with cataracts for five years now, was among the residents who reached the camp for medical intervention and underwent surgery to revert her blindness.

“I have been blind since 2019 and my blindness pushed me to shut down my business, I have come to the medical camp to get help hoping I will regain my eyesight after the surgery,” Lydiah said.

Jesca David, a cataract victim, was among the residents who benefited from the outreach. Due to early detection, her condition was corrected.

“I have been having eye problems for a while but due to lack of accessible eye care, I have been treating it as normal eye problems, today I came for checkup and I was told I have cataract which was treated and I can now see clearly,” said Jesca.

Jesca pleads with the county government to deploy eye specialists to the island to reduce acute cases of eye conditions. She says this would help ease the burden of travelling to Homa Bay for treatment.

“Access to medical care is still a problem in the island and I want to call upon the county government to avail the necessary specialists and equipment to the island to reduce the risks of infections and for easy access to quality medical care in the island,” Jesca urged.

A cataract is a clouding of the lens in the eye which affects vision. Its symptoms include blurry vision, difficulty seeing at night, and sensitivity to light.