Kenya Targets Elimination of Cataract as a Public Health Problem by 2045
Kenya plans to eliminate cataracts as a public health problem by 2045 by expanding access to eye care and sight-restoring surgery.
The government aims to reduce cataract-related vision impairment among people aged 50 and over from an estimated 8 per cent to 2.5 per cent. It also plans to increase the cataract surgical rate from about 750 operations per million people to 2,000 by 2030 and to 8,600 by 2036.
The programme is expected to facilitate about nine million cataract operations between 2027 and 2045, with support from investments in infrastructure, health workers and financing through the Social Health Authority.
The Ministry of Health will begin developing a costed national cataract plan in 2027, with county-level targets and measures to improve access for underserved communities.
An additional KSh3.3 billion investment in eye health between 2026 and 2030 is projected to yield about KSh34 billion in economic benefits. VisionSpring has also pledged to provide affordable eyeglasses to a further 550,000 Kenyans by 2030.
(Source: MSN)