South Africa has launched a major initiative to tackle its long-standing cataract surgery backlog, with 133 patients regaining their sight during a three-day surgical “marathon” conducted across two regional hospitals near Johannesburg last month. Among those treated was 84-year-old Gladys Khoza, who had waited nearly a year for the procedure. After her operation, Khoza expressed joy as her vision was restored, allowing her to see family, read her bible, and watch television once again.
Cataracts, a common age-related condition where the eye’s lens becomes clouded, affect millions worldwide. In South Africa, patients in the public health system can wait years for the relatively routine surgery due to limited resources and prioritization of emergency and critical procedures. Some of those helped during the recent initiative had been on waiting lists since 2019.
Dr. Tebogo Fakude, one of the volunteer surgeons, noted that cataracts significantly impact quality of life despite being a small organ. “It’s a small organ in the body, but it affects humongous things in the human body, or in the human lifestyle,” he said. His team performed operations at a rate of about one patient per hour, replacing clouded lenses with artificial ones while gospel music played to maintain morale in the operating theatre.
Globally, at least 2.2 billion people suffer from vision impairment, with cataracts being a leading cause. The World Health Organization reports that 100 million people are affected by cataracts, and half still lack access to surgery. In Africa, 75% of those needing cataract surgery remain untreated, according to a March 2024 Lancet study.
South Africa’s public hospitals, serving over three-quarters of the country’s 62 million people, face a massive backlog. By the end of last year, more than 240,000 people were waiting for cataract operations, with over 35,000 in Gauteng province alone suffering from cataract-related blindness. Each year, around 300,000 new cases are diagnosed, further straining the system.
Health officials hope the recent surgical marathon will help reduce the backlog and improve access to care for vulnerable populations, particularly the elderly, whose quality of life is severely affected by untreated cataracts.
