Kwale District Eye Centre - Kenya

Background

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The Kwale District Eye Centre is a charitable organisation. Patients pay only an affordable contribution towards their care - as seen in the costs section.

The aim of the centre is to provide affordable, accessible eye care to combat the totally unnecessary rate of blindness in a very poor rural area the size of Wales in the UK.

The centre was set up by Dr Helen Roberts MBE, a UK qualified ophthalmologist married to a Kenyan citizen. Dr Roberts (MBChB, MRCOphth, FRCOphth) was awarded fellowship of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists UK in 1991. She was awarded an MBE in the July 2001 Honours list in recognition of her pioneering work saving sight in Kenya.

Before KDEC was built there was nowhere in the large district with a population of 500,000, where a patient could access an ophthalmologist.

Starting from a one room clinic KDEC now has a well equipped air conditioned operating theatre and an inpatient hostel for post operative care.

Dr Roberts is supported by a team of locally qualified, trained staff who report to a committee of 14 members representing the local community and local government.

During 1996 a partnership was formed with the Christoffel Blindenmission International based in Germany. KDEC is committed to "Vision 2020" - an initiative by major players in world eye care aiming to eliminate all avoidable blindness by the year 2020.

A British registered charity "Eyes For East Africa (UK)" with registration number 1053222 is the focus for fundraising and the receipt of donations in the UK. This is run entirely by volunteers so there are no administrative overheads.

KDEC works closely with other health care service providers in the District to ensure optimum use of resources. Details of the Kwale Health Forum, through which this action is coordinated, can be found at www.kwalehealthforum.or.ke