LIBERIA – The John F. Kennedy (JFK) Medical Centre, Liberia’s chief referral health centre, has announced that corneal transplant procedure will be offered at its premier eye centre.
The Liberian Eye Centre undertook five successful surgeries, being the first ever to be undertaken in the country.
One of the five patients came from The Gambia with the rest being Liberians.
The surgeries were performed by a medical team led by Dr. Shalini Singh, a visiting Ophthalmologist who works with L.V. Prasad Eye Institute in India.
The team worked for hours to ensure the success of the surgeries which was made possible by the state-of-the-art equipment at the JFK Eye Center, run by L.V. Prasad Eye Institute of India.
Dr. Singh, who is a renowned surgeon, noted that Prasad would continue to support the JFK Eye Center to conduct and keep up its corneal transplant surgery.
Additionally, Prasad would continue to send a surgeon every three months to ensure that the service is maintained and operational.
“A corneal is very important and any damage to it can result in vision impairment or even blindness.Due to advancements in technology, transplants have become safe and easy to perform,” Dr. Singh added.
The corneal transplant surgery, which started in Liberia in 2017, came to a halt as a result of coronavirus pandemic.
The corneal, which is the clear front surface of the eye, plays a pivotal role in focusing light and transmitting visual information to the retina.
Dr. Singh explained that any damage to it can result in vision impairment or even blindness and transplantation, which is the most safer procedure to replace a damaged cornea, has long been a challenge in West Africa due to limited access to advanced eye care services.
According to Dr. Niranjan Pehere, an ophthalmologist at the Liberia Eye Center, the resumption of the transplants holds tremendous promise for those afflicted with corneal blindness, a condition that severely impacts visual acuity and quality of life.
Dr. Pehere is the head of the Center added that the resumption of the procedures comes after a few years of a halt as a reason for coronavirus.
“We are thrilled to have achieved this significant milestone. So far we have performed nine corneal transplant procedures since the beginning of this year and two of our patients came from Ghana,” Dr. Pehere noted.
JFK Eye centre paving the way for best eye care in Liberia
The JFK Eye Center is the leading provider of eye care services in the country and only offers advanced surgery procedures.
It is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and technology, and it has a team of highly trained and experienced surgeons who are improving the lives of countless people who suffer from visual impairments — and other eye-related conditions.
While eye care is expensive, the Liberia Eye Center takes care of every one of its patientsas part of its philosophy that everyone who requires treatment should receive it, irrespective of their ability to pay for it and the complexity of the disease.
Subsequently, they achieve this through a three-tier payment system, which is intended to determine patients’ ability to pay for an eye care service so that no one is turned away.
Patients who were once struggling with vision loss and the fear of blindness have been able to manage their disease and maintain independence even if they are unable to pay for the treatment.
In July, the Eye Centre performed retina surgery for the first time here.
The groundbreaking surgery was performed by a team led by Dr. Subhadra Jalali, a visiting Ophthalmologist who works with L V Prasad Eye Institute in India.
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