Q & A

Q: Why do we get involved in Ethiopia?

A: The immense need of assistance.

• GNP per capita: $ 382.
• Total health expenditure per capita: $ 14.
• Ethiopia has the lowest sanitation coverage in the world (6%).
• Some 2.4 million people in the Sub-Sahara region are blind from cataract, with an estimated 600 000 new cases of blinding cataracts occurring each year.

A: The outstanding (albeit limited) existing health care
       and aid structures in Ethiopia.

• We do not want to build up our own Health-care structures, but do rather intend to support pre-existing local health-care-structures, -personal and -know-how.

A: The great potential of the country and its people.

• We want to invest in a country were there is potential for long term, sustainable solutions. Hence, basic macroeconomic criteria and peace accords should be met and should exist.
• November 5, 2004 - concluding a four-day visit to Ethiopia last month, president of the World Bank Jim Wolfensohn applauded the government's vision for growth and poverty reduction. He added that the country - the second most populous in Sub-Saharan Africa - is poised to benefit from higher levels of development assistance and investment.

Q:Why do we target cataract?

A: Cataract is the leading cause of blindness.
       Blindness has a severe impact on an individuals
       life, as well as on a community, or nation, as a whole.

• Some 2.4 million people in the Sub-Sahara region are blind from cataracts, with an estimated 600 000 new cases of blinding cataracts occurring each year. It is estimated that 50 million people will be affected by cataract by the year 2020!
• 10% of the blind children in the world suffer from Cataract.
• "Everywhere, blind people live difficult lives. but in Africa, where social support services are non-existent, blindness and extremely low vision, first and foremost, spell humiliation. begging becomes the only way for those affected to survive." (Dr Ebrahim Malick Samba, who's regional director of Africa.)
• By restoring vision we "help people to help themselves."

A: Cataract is easily diagnosed and some 80 % of
       the cases leading to blindness are treatable.

A: The therapy, which is of surgical nature, is
       inexpensive and technically straight forward.
       It is the most frequently performed operation in
       the world with one of the highest success-rates.

• The cataract surgery rate in the Sub-Sahara region ranges from only 200 to 1000 per 1 million of the general population per year. As a result, the back log of unoperated cataracts is steadily on the increase.
• One surgery can be financed with as little as $ 5, and if the lens is replace with an artificial one, the cost will amount to be between $ 30-40.