Eyeworld

Sitting continued from page 69 EW IN OTHER NEWS 70 August 2011 find any consumables locally. For example, different viscoelastic mate- rials we cannot get in Ethiopia. There is no organization that is im- porting these goods. We have to de- pend on the Foundation's support. EyeWorld: Does the government understand the importance of eye- care? Dr. Kefyalew: Of course they un- derstand. They say they are trying to improve the conditions of eye man- agement. For example, they say they want to accommodate more oph- thalmology residents, but no one is applying because of the economic problems. To set up an ophthalmic clinic is difficult. It requires a huge investment, but no investors are in- terested in those areas. So when ophthalmologists go out to work, they have no job opportunities. They cannot support their families. Everyone is shying away from ophthalmology. [The government] said it could accommodate 15 to 20 ophthalmologists in at least one of the medical schools in Ethiopia, but no one is going. This last year only two people applied. That's the prob- lem. EyeWorld: What does the clinic need? Dr. Kefyalew: The first and most important thing is to maintain a continuous supply of lenses, vis- coelastics, and other materials. Sec- ond to that, we have to have optical centers. We don't have any optome- try service in the clinic and we need to establish that. About 14% of our patients are visiting our clinic be- cause of refractive error. Now we are sending them to other clinics and losing them. We have to service them totally. The other important thing is different equipment. For example, we don't have a visual field analyzer and we have to have one. We again have to send patients to other places to undergo those investigations. We don't have an auto refractive meter, and that's very important. Most of the equipment sent to our clinic has no maintenance manuals. It's diffi- cult to fix things. If our phaco ma- chine fails, who is going to fix it? We are on our way to expand- ing. Our clinic is very small. In the morning there are many patients, more than 100 with their families standing outside. But the expansion is underway. In the future this prob- lem will be solved. EyeWorld: What is the expan- sion adding? Dr. Kefyalew: We'll have more rooms. Our operating room is very small. It has no sterilization area. We sterilize our instruments and other materials in other buildings. The main thing is to expand the operat- ing room to accommodate two oper- ating tables at a time. The other thing is to have a recovery area, which we don't have right now. We are going to have exam rooms, and in addition to that an optical work- shop and display. We are going to have some offices. It's really excit- ing. When we start optometry we're going to need additional manpower, like optical technicians to take care of patients. More patients will come to us. Maybe we'll have additional ophthalmologists because the de- mand is there. The magnitude of eye problems in Ethiopia is very high. The prevalence of blindness in Ethiopia is 1.6% and that's very high. EyeWorld: What's next for you training wise? Dr. Kefyalew: I don't know. I don't have the capacity to go and get training for myself because I can't afford it. But I would like to do glaucoma training combined with cataract. That's my interest. That's one of the reasons to travel to the U.S., to observe these types of sur- geries. But I cannot get hands-on training here. If I go to India I can get hands-on training and continue to serve the needy people in Ethiopia. Editors' note: The Robert M. Sinskey Pediatric Eyecare Clinic has a constant need for surgical supplies to serve its Ethiopian patients. Items such as fold- able IOLs, reusable surgical knives/in- struments, and antibiotic/steroid/ anti-inflammatory/glaucoma eye drops are unavailable in Ethiopia and must be purchased and shipped from over- seas. Individuals interested in donating such equipment should contact Donald Bell, ASCRS associate executive director, at 703-591-2220. Contact information Kefyalew: kefyalewr@yahoo.com Aaren Scientific Page: 33 Phone: 877-644-4657 Fax: 909 937-1088 www.aareninc.com Accutome Page: 49 Phone: 610-889-0200 Fax: 610-889-3233 www.accutome.com Alcon Laboratories Inc. Page: Cover 2, 7, 15, 16, 60 and 61 Phone: 800-862-5266 Fax: 800-241-0677 www.alconlabs.com Allergan Page: 24 and 25 Phone: 714-246-4500 Fax: 714-246-4764 www.allergan.com Angiotech Page: 23 Phone: 877-991-1110 Fax: 610-404-4010 www.Sharpoint.com APACRS Page: 34 Phone: 65-63278630 www.apacrs.org Beaver Visitec Int. Page: Cover 4 Phone: 781-906-6926 Fax: 781-9067992 www.beaver-visitec.com Croma Pharma GmbH Page: 46 Phone: +43226268468 Fax: +43226268468-14 www.croma.at Diamatrix Ltd. Page: 52 Phone: 281-367-8081 Fax: 281-292-5481 www.diamatrix.com Dutch Ophthalmic, USA Page: 17 Phone: 603-642-8468 Fax: 603-642-8465 www.dutchophthalmi- cusa.com Epsilon USA Page: 58 Phone: 909-984-4614 Fax: 909-984-4671 www.epsilonusa.com ESCRS Page: 63 and 66 www.escrs.org Gulden Ophthalmics Page: 68 Phone: 215-884-8105 Fax: 215-884-0418 www.guldenophthalmics. com Hurricane Medical Page: 57 Phone: 941-751-0588 Fax: 941-752-4738 www.hurricanemedical. com IBF Innovation Summit Page: 10 Phone: 516-765-9005 www.ophthalmology summit.com Katena Products Page: 65 Phone: 973-989-1600 Fax: 973-989-8175 www.katena.com LensAR Page: 5 Phone: 954-889-7804 Fax: 407-386-7228 www.lensar.com Medownick Laser Eye Clinic Page: 68 Phone: 800 37 39 37 www.Medownick- lasereyesurgery.com.au New World Medical Page: 54 Phone: 909-466-4304 Fax: 909-466-4305 www.ahmedvalve.com NexTech Page: Cover 3 Phone: 877-228-7821 www.nextech.com Rhein Medical Inc. Page: 11 Phone: 813-885-5050 Fax: 813-885-9346 www.rheinmedical.com Rumex International Co. Page: 30 Phone: 727-568-0909 Fax: 727-568-0919 www.rumex.net Volk Optical Page: 42 Phone: 440-942-6161 Fax: 440-942-2257 www.volk.com Ziemer Ophthalmic Page: 13 Phone: 41 32 332 7052 Fax: 41 32 332 7071 www.ziemergroup.com ASCRS•ASOA Meeting Information ASCRS ASOA 2012 Chicago Page: 39 Glaucoma Day 2012 Page: 50 Cornea Day 2012 Page: 50 ASCRS Winter Update 2012 Page: 21 ASCRS Membership Page: 31 ASOA Membership Page: 62 EyeWorld 2011 Page: 19, 27, 28, and 47 Index to Advertisers Now available online EyeWorld.org/replay

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