Curing Blindness in Ethiopia – Muzayfa’s Story

A mini-series featuring the work of the Himalayan Cataract Project in Ethiopia. Episode 4: Muzayfa’s Story.

Blindness is most prevalent in developing countries where malnutrition, inadequate health and education services, poor water quality, and a lack of sanitation lead to a high incidence of eye disease. Fully 90 percent of the world’s visually impaired live in low-income settings.
In the least-developed countries, and in particular Sub-Saharan Africa, cataracts are responsible for half of all avoidable blindness. Other causes include glaucoma (15%), corneal opacities (10%), trachoma (6.8%), childhood blindness (5.3%), and onchocerciasis (4%). A simple, low-cost, one-time procedure can restore full sight to patients with cataracts — but in too many places those procedures are not yet available.