As part of the efforts to reduce waiting times for cataract surgeries, various public hospitals in Gauteng embarked on the cataract marathon campaign for the entire month of October.
Stated on the press statement, this cataract surgery marathon campaign has seen different hospitals perform large number of operations in an effort to reduce the waiting times for patients.
Gauteng MEC for health, Kwara Kekana defined cataract as a cloudiness of the lens of the eye which occurs in many people as they grow older or young people with diseases.
“Amongst the high performing hospitals, it was Kalafong Tertiary Hospital in Pretoria West, which undertook 205 cataract surgeries in two weeks. The Dr George Mukhari Academic Hospital (DGMAH), and St. Johns Eye Hospital performed 132, and 124 operations respectively,” Kekana said.
He added that in the West rand, Leratong Hospital performed 105 operations, whereas in Joburg Health District, Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital (CMJAH) undertook 94.
Moreover, he noted that Helen Joseph Hospital (HJH) performed 64 operations for October and the other hospitals will have their surgeries November.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has considerably affected public hospital’s ability to perfume elective surgeries due to resources being repurposed to fight the pandemic.
“With the drop in the rate of new Covid-19 infection cases and hospital admissions, public hospitals are able to dedicate resources to other healthcare services,” Kekana said.
