THE George Subraj foundation has maintained their benevolence locally by helping nine Guyanese to keep their sight.

Over the past week, persons in dire need of a corneal transplant, some of whom had given up hope, underwent surgeries to save their sights at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

Their ability to see well again is owed to the foundation which donated nine corneas to the hospital.

For years, the foundation has been working closely with the hospital to provide special care for persons who might not be able to access or afford it locally.

The persons who benefited from the foundation’s most recent initiative were Aduni Richmond, Kateri Fernandes, Rita Smith, Basil Pradhuman, Khemchandranauth Shatterpaul, Babita Kanhai, Poonwattie Rambarran and Dolores Persaud.

A member of the foundation, Tony Subraj, had a chance to interact with some of the beneficiaries at the GPHC on Saturday.

The responses he received brought tears to his eyes. A few of the persons who were unable to see properly for over 10 years saw the donation as a blessing, since they had already given up hope.

Richmond said she was unaware of her condition for years but when she was finally diagnosed with an eye disease, she discovered that she had to travel abroad to do a corneal transplant or she would lose her sight.
“I was not able to see for years because since 2013, I was diagnosed. I ran around all over but I couldn’t afford to go do the surgery, even though the Ministry of Health had agreed to pay half of the fees for me,” she said.

With all hope lost, Richmond decided that nothing else could be done but she still prayed for a solution until the day finally came when she got a call from the GPHC to have the surgery done. It was successful.

Corneal transplantation, also known as corneal grafting, is a surgical procedure in which a damaged or diseased cornea is replaced by donated corneal tissue (the graft). When the entire cornea is replaced, it is known as penetrating keratoplasty; and when only part of the cornea is replaced, it is known as lamellar keratoplasty.

The cornea is defined as the transparent part of the eye that covers the front portion of the eye. It covers the pupil (the opening at the center of the eye), iris (the colored part of the eye), and anterior chamber (the fluid-filled inside of the eye). The cornea’s main function is to refract, or bend, light. The cornea is responsible for focussing most of the light that enters the eye.

CHALLENGE
“It is very difficult to gather the corneas because there are no transplant law in Guyana, so we have to bring them from the US; they cost like US$5,000 each,” said Subraj in an invited comment.

Dr. Shailendra Sugrim, who conducted the surgeries, said the assistance from the foundation has been exceptional because, aside from providing the corneas, they trained two local doctors to do corneal transplants.

“This is not the first time they donated corneas; the surgery was never done in Guyana before they provided assistance,” said the doctor.
He said they have also invested a lot into supplying the hospital with certain equipment and tools.

The foundation recently donated two cornea topographers and a flash steriliser to the hospital, totalling almost US$10,000.

Dr. Sugrim said the topographer would help them to detect irregularities in the cornea while the new steriliser would complement the old and only steriliser that they had.
The foundation has also extended their benevolence over the past week to Yakusari, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) where they conducted eye glass outreach clinic. Some 200 persons were tested and 150 received prescription glasses.

Residents of Linden also benefited from a similar outreach. Over 650 people turned out from various communities in Linden to get their eyes tested and over 500 persons received prescription glasses. Before the group returns to the US, they will take the outreach to Cane Grove, Mahaica, today.

The foundation also facilitated a kidney transplant at the GPHC for siblings and intends to host a medical conference at the Marriott hotel to talk about epidurals, kidney transplant and so forth. Subraj said there will be guest lectures from Dr. Rahul Jindal, Dr. Steven Guy and Dr. Ashish Kumar of the US.

Founder of the foundation, Geogre Subraj started the humanitarian work in 1992 when he joined the Guyana Watch Medical Outreach team which was founded by local businessman, Tony Yassin and academic, Dr Tara Singh.

After starting his own foundation a few years later, he had facilitated the travel of medical volunteers to Guyana to offer medical care across the country with a focus on helping the less fortunate.