UHEAL
Mobile Eye Care for Kenyan Poor
The Challenge
- Loss of eye sight has a tremendous economic and social impact on low-income families, eliminiating the ability of at least one person to earn an income and often requring substantial assistance forom at least one other family member. The prevalence of blindness is partly a symptom of underlying developments challenges of nuitrition and lack of access to health care, particularly preventative care
- Retinopathy occurs in approximately 20% of diabetics, offering a unique opportunity for targeted, early intervention and sight-saving diagnostic treatment for nearly a quarter million Kenyans
- Often, however, the long wait poor patients face in visiting doctors causes a condition to worsen until it becomes inoperable, leading to irreversible loss of sight.
The Innovation
- UHEAL mobile eye units will operate fifteen eye camps a year to screen for diabetic retinopathy and provide non-invasive procedures, eye examinations, follow-up care, and laser treatment at an affordable rate to low-income Kenyan communities.
- UHEAL will provide access for all to specialized eye care services previously unavailable in the region, and operate a set of mobile outreach units to conduct eye camps across Kenya to screen for diabetic retinopathy.
- Acumen Fund and UHEAL will, working together, experimnet with different pricing models to find the right balance between financial sustainability and social impact.
The Impact
- UHEAL will work against preventable loss of sight, through its mobile eye units and with training throughout Kenya
- With targeted, early intervention and sight-saving diagnostic treatment for nearly a quarter million Kenyans, the eye camps will provide mobile service to the Western, Central, Coast, and Rift Vally provinces, all with high rates of diabetes amongst their populations.
