A special report for Rayner Intraocular Lenses Ltd: April 2020

We are so grateful for your enduring support and it is a pleasure to send you this special report from our local partners

in Cambodia and Sri Lanka. IMPACT projects are designed to take healthcare and surgery to the poorest people, who

have no place to turn in the event of ill-health. Thanks to your generous donations of intraocular lenses, recent

IMPACT projects in Sri Lanka and Cambodia have enabled people living with needless sight loss to see clearly once

again – restoring not only their health but their dignity and future prospects.

Sri Lanka - report by IMPACT UK trustee, Mr Sal Rassam (Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon)

We have all been in a situation where everything around you is

falling apart. Your life is disseminating and you are helpless to

do anything about it; being vulnerable and scared… certainly

that is the situation when you have lost vision in both eyes and

the world around you is invisible. You rely on your other senses

which may well be in similar dire states and if you are lucky

enough to have loved ones how much of their time can they

commit looking after you…. That is the feeling of millions of

people in underprivileged countries, living not only in a world of

poverty and helplessness but the world around them is vague

and obscure. We all have a duty to help others and I have been

setting up eye camps in such countries since 1998 and my

recent trip has been to the Samanala Valley Clinic in Sri Lanka.

The clinic is in the middle of the tea plantations at the heart of

beautiful Sri Lanka on top of the mountains; an area of

magnificent beauty but fairly isolated with poor transport and

limited medical care. One of the reasons that rates of blindness

from treatable eye conditions is high is because of exposure to

strong sunlight at high altitudes. Many people live in small huts

with extended families and very little revenue - barely enough to

maintain everyday living, never mind about healthcare

provisions. When it comes to healthcare, young people take

precedence due to their potential to earn money and so the

elderly are treated with least priority. Some of the elderly

people live alone as the younger members leave the villages to

work in the cities, where there is better income and higher living

standards.

The Samanala Valley clinic is run by a group of British and

European expats and local volunteers. In collaboration with

them, I helped to set up a fully-fledged eye clinic with outpatient

facilities, operating theatres and sterilisation units in 2009. We

carry out screening clinics, glasses prescribing, anterior segment

surgery and laser treatments.

IMPACT Foundation

151 Western Road, Haywards Heath,

West Sussex, RH16 3LH

Tel: 01444 457080

www.impact.org.uk

UK registered Charity No. 290992

As I do regularly, I went out in January 2020 with my team of two nurses to conduct surgery on patients already

screened for us by a resident optician. We managed to operate on 73 patients and apply laser treatment to 3 other

patients. Several other patients received medical treatments for infections and glaucoma.

A lot of the supplies needed have been donated by NHS and private clinics including my own clinic with a major

contribution from Rayner Intraocular Lenses Ltd, who have donated over 2,000 intraocular lenses to the centre. A

small plastic lens that forms a big part of vision correction in cataract surgery. This generous supply will continue to

be used in vision correction surgery in the months to come by other local and international surgeons.

Imagine living in a world of vague haze when one day a patch is removed from your eye and the world is bright & clear

once again… it begins as a moment of euphoria exploding to massive sensation of joy knowing that now you have

control of your own destiny, is nothing short of an exhilaration and big relief.

These are the feeling of these patients the next day after the surgery. I do not speak their language but the smiles on

their faces says it all and that moment brings tremendous pleasure in my heart; one action twice the pleasure. These

are the stories of two of the patients:

Mr NR is a 64 year old gardener but in the last year he could not work due to limited vision. He had a vision at

presentation to the clinic of 6/18 in one eye and Counting Fingers in the other eye. He had surgery to the left eye with

a Rayner C-flex intraocular lens and postoperatively he could achieve 6/6 unaided in this eye. He was so pleased with

the outcome and now has returned to work as well as helping his family at home. He enjoys seeing and interacting

with his grandchildren.

Sri Lanka has no welfare state and therefore people try to work long past their retirement age. Working is their only

source of income to support their family. We are planning to operate on his right eye later this year by another team.

Mrs AS is a 55 year old housewife in a tea plantation estate. She had a pre-operative vision of Counting Fingers in one

eye and Perception of Light in the other eye. Daily life was extremely difficult and became very limited in her ability to

look after the family. She had surgery to the left eye with Rayner Intraocular lens. She managed to achieve 6/6 vision

unaided after the surgery. She was overjoyed at being able to see again and can now be much more independent.

She was surprised at all the colours, when she looked out of the clinic window at the flowers and trees outside the

clinic. She has to walk quite a distance to the shops and other facilities and since her surgery she can once again help

in managing her home and cooking. We hope to operate on her right eye later this year.

The photographs presented below are other stories that such a

life changing operation had changed their lives:

Thank you! This work would not have been possible without the massive contribution of Rayner Intraocular lenses and

through IMPACT UK

Cambodia - report by Rasmi Sophoan, IMPACT Cambodia Co-ordinator

IMPACT-Cambodia has received shipment of intraocular lenses from

Rayner, via IMPACT, in August 2019. These intraocular lenses have so

far been used for surgical camps for poor people at our partner

hospital, Preah Angduong in Phnom Penh, where there is a large

need.

A very huge thanks to the Rayner who have given us this this great

opportunity to help the poorest Cambodian people from the provinces

to reach this medical care service. It is people living in rural areas who

are least likely to afford treatment and where there are no health

facilities located. So Preah Angduong hospital cooperates with

provincial hospitals by conducting outreach eye screening and

treatment camps each month. When they find patients who need

surgery, they are transferred to the hospital when there is a surgical

camp for the poorest people. It can be as a group of 70 to 100 people,

or it can sometimes up to 130.

Thank you Rayner”!

Patients are waiting for their turn in waiting room

Patients were waiting in front of operating room

Activities in operating theatre

Sorm Sorn “My name is Sorm Sorn. I am 80 years old. I am from Prey Veng

Province. I just had my eye operated. I have been living with the poor eyesight

of mine for almost 20 years. Everything is all blurred and hazy. I live with my

grandson. My living condition is very poor as I have to depend on my grandson

alone. He is a farmer who could earn about US$ 3 to US$ 5 per day. Due to our

livelihood issue, I had to choose to live with the poor eyesight for I do not know

where should I go or what should I do. Fortunately, my neighbor told my

grandson that he saw an announcement that the provincial hospital will conduct

eye screening and treatment with free of charge for the poorest people with the

help of charity donation. My grandson took me to the hospital for screening,

and I was transferred to Preah Anduong Hospital for surgery camp. Five days

after screening, I underwent surgery successfully. The hospital even helped for

my transportation. The day after the operation is a great day of my life, a day of

new hope, because I never thought that I would have this chance. I lose hope.

Day by day, my vision was getting worse. I thought that I will not see my

grandson’s face one day. Now that I am really happy that my vision has been

improved after the operation, I would like to thanks to the donor who supported

me. “

Chhit Keth is 72 years old. She lives in Bar Phnom District, Prey Veng Province.

She had terrible eyesight for four years. “I could not recognise anyone who

stands about 6 to 7 meters far from me. I could hardly see things with my eyes.

I used to buy eye drop from a local pharmacy but it did not really help at all. So

I did not know where should I go to seek medical health care as I thought that

the treatment fee would be very expensive. I am very lucky that I received

operatio to improve my eyesight. Thank you very much to the donor and IMPACT who supported my treatment.”

This group of seven persons are all from the same village of Bar Phnom District, Prey Veng Province. Two women in the

front row have been living with their poor eyesight for almost six to seven years. They went to Prey Veng Referral

Hospital for eye screening on 22nd January 2020. After screening, they were suggested by doctor that they needed to

be transferred for eye operation at Preah Angduong Hospital. They came to Phnom Penh by taxi that was arranged by

the hospital together with the other villagers on 21st January 2020. They received eye surgery with Rayner Lens on 27th

January 2020, and the operation went successfully. They stayed at the hospital for another night after operation. They

went back home happily with better eyesight!

Just some of the grateful patients