Violence in Nepal Puts Continuation of Eye Services in Lahan at Risk

Over a dozen armed groups aimed at "liberating the terai" currently cause violence and insecurity in Nepal. During the first six months of 2007 several groups have enforced already 77 "Bandhas" (general strikes), mainly in the southern Terai belt of Nepal. This puts the work of CBM’s major eye hospital at stake, reports Dr. Albrecht Hennig, who works as an ophthalmologist at Sagarmatha Choudhary Eye Hospital in Lahan for CBM. At the same time, the Biratnagar Eye Hospital, a branch of the Lahan hospital, is overrun by patients.

The CBM-supported Sagarmatha Choudhary Eye Hospital in Lahan is the major player in eye care in the region and is internationally recognised, being the second largest eye hospital in the world. Since its formation in 1983 through 2006, the hospital in Lahan has performed 439,806 eye surgeries, with 59,808 in 2005 and 58,989 in 2006 alone. It is located in the southeast near the Indian border in the populous terai belt, with about 5.2 million people.

Dr. Albrecht Hennig, Programme Director in Lahan since 1982, says "The frequent 'bhandas' (general strikes) stopped public life and transportation, so that many patients with eye problems could not reach Lahan for treatment, or cannot leave again after cataract surgery or other medical eye care therapy. In addition, reports in newspapers prevented people from coming to Lahan. This resulted in 20,376 fewer outpatients and 8,534 fewer eye surgeries performed in Lahan from January to June 2007 in comparison to the same time in 2006." Patients travel as far as 600 km to Lahan. Many of them are poor and are being offered high-quality ophthalmic services at limited or no cost.

The agitations are mostly concentrated in the two districts Siraha and Saptari, Lahan being in the middle of it. With the growing tensions in Lahan, the importance of a new eye hospital in Biratnagar, the second largest Nepali city in the southeast, has become increasingly important. Biratnagar, two hours drive from Lahan, in Koshi Zone, is less hit by general strikes and people can move around more freely within the city.

In cooperation with Lahan and through the support of CBM, the new eye clinic in Biratnagar was established in September 2006 and is already operational. Additional facilities had to be rented to be able to accommodate the increasing number of patients. Many had originally planned to travel from India to Lahan, but when they got stuck in Biratnagar, they stayed there for treatment instead. Dr. Hennig says, "From January to June 2007, staff in Biratnagar examined and treated 23,881 eye patients and performed 4,316 eye surgeries. This is more than we all expected."

CBM plans to develop the eye hospitals in Biratnagar and Lahan into Eastern Regional Eye Centre (EREC), and to build a new hospital block, outpatient facilities, and a residence block. Costs for EREC will amount to approximately 11 million Euros in 5 years. Funding is still needed for EREC, which will provide comprehensive eye services to people blind from cataracts and suffering from other eye conditions in underserved Nepal and the densely populated Indian states of Bihar (82.8 million people) and Uttar Pradesh (166 million people), when in full service.

Rolf Müggenburg, Continental Director for CBM’s programmes in Asia, says "We hope that the tensions will calm down in Nepal, so that CBM’s coworker Dr. Hennig and Lahan staff can fully meet the needs of eye patients. Our concerns are of course with the personal safety of all at Lahan Eye Hospital. Hopefully all can keep up the work in this situation."

Read more:
A Boost to Global Eye Care - Prevention and Treatment of Blindness in Lahan/Nepal

Further information:
Lahan Eye Clinic Website
Reuters Alertnet about the current situation in Nepal
Reuters Alertnet - Country Profile Nepal