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SIGHTFIRST UPDATELions restore sight in Sri LankaCataract is the leading cause of blindness in Sri Lanka. Piyadasa Hewavithana, 63, is one of 16,500 SriLankans who have the Lions to thank for regained sight through cataract surgery. Once nearly blind, he nowenjoys reading the newspaper and is able to work again."My sincere thanks to the doctor andstaff of the Lions Hospital at Panadurafor providing free vision for poor peoplewho would otherwise go blind," he says."I have got a new life. I pray that Lions willhelp many more poor people to get theirsight back."About 18 million people worldwide areblind from cataract, representing 48percent of all cases of blindness. Indeveloping countries surgical servicesare often inadequate or inaccessible.Or there are long waiting periods foroperations, shortages of supplies andtransportation problems that impedeaccess to the underserved.Sri Lanka emerged from a 26-yearlongcivil war in 2009. Resources thatwould have otherwise been available forhealth care had been diverted to militaryspending. However, even during wartime,SightFirst prevented vision loss. Between1993 and 2008, SightFirst provided nearly$1.8 million. In addition to surgeries, eyecare wings were constructed at threegovernment hospitals, four governmenteye wings were upgraded and three Lionseye hospitals were supported throughinfrastructure development, humanresource training and cataract subsidies.Dr S Chandrashekar Shetty, SightFirsttechnical advisor for Sri Lanka, says:"Lions of Sri Lanka have joined hands withnational and provincial governments of SriLanka, other national and internationalNGOs, voluntary organisations andcivil society in providing need-based,comprehensive, quality eye-care services inthe underservedpopulation of SriLanka in the lasttwo decades."As cataractremains theleading causeof blindness inSri Lanka andmany otherdevelopingnations, Lionscontinue to focuson cataractsurgeries.One of theindicators usedto determine thedegree to whichthe cataractissue is beingaddressed isthe cataractsurgical rate, or the number of cataractsurgeries being carried out by all eyecareproviders, per million population.The Sri Lankan average is 3,804, but thisnumber fluctuates wildly between the 25districts of Sri Lanka, with figures rangingfrom 571 to 8,889. These new figures willhelp guide Lions eye hospitals to reachthe underserved.Specifically, the Lions seek to expandtheir outreach beyond the greaterColombo area in Sri Lanka and havestarted working with the ministry of healthand VISION 2020, a global initiative toeliminate blindness, to play a proactiverole in building the eye-care systems inother parts of the country.They have explored partnering withgovernment hospitals in Jaffna,Trincomalee and Batticaloa for upgradesto help address the areas' cataract surgicalbacklogs. A new Lions eye hospital inRatnapura, financed through a SightFirstgrant and a generous donation by theLions of Finland and their government,will address eye care needs in anotherunderserved part of the country.Through these efforts, the Lions can answerHewavithana's prayer to "help many morepoor people to get their sight back."LION, South Pacific Edition | May/June 2012 30