Khorram combats cataract in Africa
David Khorram, left, and Arman Khorram, second from right, worked with volunteers from Vanderbilt, Duke, and University of New England to combat blindness in rural Africa in collaboration with Marianas Eye Institute. (Contributed Photo)
Marianas Eye Institute’s co-founder Dr. David Khorram, accompanied by his 16-year-old son Arman, recently went to Ghana, Africa, to provide needed cataract surgery.
The two were Global Impact fellows with the non-profit organization, Unite for Sight, based in New Haven, Connecticut.
“The training was a refresher of sorts for me,” said Khorram. “However, it was all new for Arman and it prepared him well for the time we spent in the villages in Ghana.”
Global Impact fellows undergo training on providing care in rural and underserved areas.
In Ghana, the Khorrams were joined by three other volunteers, all university students.
The team members, accompanied by staff from the Crystal Eye Clinic in Accra, Ghana, traveled each day to outlying villages and conducted large scale community screening campaigns to identify those with vision problems.
In addition, the team members, including those from the Saipan eye clinic, gathered statistics to be used in research to improve care in the region.
They saw up to 200 patients per day.
“The screenings were done in partnership with local village organizations who announced days ahead of time that we were arriving,” Khorram said. “Because of the absence of hospitals and health centers, we used local schools or community centers to perform the exams. The university volunteers and Arman checked vision, while those of us with medical training, conducted the formal eye exams.”
On some days, while the team members were in the outlying villages, Khorram joined ophthalmologists from the Crystal Eye Clinic to help clear the backlog of cataract surgery.
“There are a limited number of ophthalmologists in the country,” said Khorram. “Not enough to serve the population. So volunteer ophthalmologists are needed to perform cataract surgery.”
Cataract is the world’s leading cause of reversible blindness, affecting some 20 million people globally. Cataracts are also the leading cause of vision loss in Saipan.
Cataract is a clouding of the natural lens inside the eye, which causes blurred vision. It occurs most commonly with aging, and with diabetes.
“Because Marianas Eye Institute is the major center for treatment of diabetic eye disease on Saipan, we also treat a lot of cataracts. Cataract surgery, with today’s modern technique of phacoemulsification, can be performed in under 20 minutes, and the same day, the patient can see again,” said Russ Quinn, the Saipan eye clinic’s CEO.
Dr. Dennis Williams performs the high-tech cataract surgery on Saipan, while Khorram now spends most of his professional time as an international volunteer eye surgeon. (PR)
