Vision 2020 Eye Care Clinic

Share in the vision to restore someone’s vision

Skilled medical staff and a surgical theatre are in place to deliver more than 1 000 free, sight-restoring operations every year to people without the means. Your generosity can help deliver the small things that will play a big role in reducing the national backlog of people who are unnecessarily blind.

The University of Pretoria’s Vision 2020 Eye Care Clinic housed at Pretoria West Hospital, has a proud track record of offering treatment and sight-restoring surgery at no cost to needy patients. Since its establishment in 2006, the clinic has restored the sight of approximately 8000 patients who would never have been able to afford the surgery nor be able to ever see again.

Going beyond public sector duty

This valuable service is possible through the collaboration of the University of Pretoria, the Gauteng Provincial Government and donor organisations that support the running of the clinic.  Some 400 free consultations are offered at the clinic every month and, as an academic service learning site, the Eye-Care clinic offers an invaluable opportunity to hone the diagnostic and  surgical skills of the university students, medical officers and registrars, under the expert guidance of a consultant ophthalmologist.

While cataracts are by far the biggest cause of blindness in South Africa, it is a condition that can be treated surgically to reverse the loss of sight. In 2011 a total of 960 cataract operations  were performed at the clinic, which is one of the few facilities in South Africa to have a dedicated theatre focused exclusively on cataract surgery.

In 2012, however, the clinic was only able to deliver a quarter of the annual target of 1 000 cataract surgeries as a result of the erratic supply of surgical consumables necessary for each  operation. Although in 2013 the clinic was able to rise above challenges and performed 800 operations, the situation remains fragile.

 The clinic, together with the University of Pretoria, has established a Cataract Fund which is used to purchase surgery consumables and allows the clinic to operate at its true potential.

 Your gift can help reduce the current waiting list of between 12 and 18 months for patients suffering from cataracts.

 Funding is required to cover the cost of surgical consumables for over 1 000 annual surgeries for patients suffering from cataract, glaucoma or diabetes-related eyesight complications.

To find out how you can contribute to one, a hundred or a thousand eye operations please contact: 

2020 Vision Clinic - Dr S Allison - 012 380 1361 or 012 546 3113.