For years, women have made significant contributions to the field of ophthalmology, and it is important to recognise their accomplishments as well as the barriers they have overcome.
Orbis Zambia Newsletter
Welcome to the Orbis Zambia Newsletter for the first quarter of 2023.
A Word From the Country Director
Welcome to the Orbis Zambia Newsletter for the first quarter of 2023. In the first quarter, we continued our mission to eliminate avoidable blindness across the country in the three provinces where we have been operating, namely Lusaka, Copperbelt, and North-western. We are grateful for the partnership with the Ministry of Health which allows us to enhance service provision in the three provinces we support.
Orbis began the year in the first quarter by planning eye care activities with all our partner hospitals and Provincial Health Offices (PHOs) in the provinces where we service our project. This was done to ensure that service delivery is inclusive and integrated.
Gender and Eye Health
Orbis continued to celebrate women in ophthalmology for International Women's Day in 2023, with the theme "DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality," a direction Orbis has been taking to ensure women have access to technology for work efficiency. A feature article in the Times of Zambia commemorated International Women's Day.
Journey to Enhance Eye Health in North-Western Province
Making decisions to ensure the smooth operation of the Solwezi Eye Clinic has positioned Nzowva as a leader capable of doing more to support the provision of eye care services in North-western Province.
Nzowva Zulu Kashiwa, a registered ophthalmic nurse, has spent many years serving the communities of Solwezi by providing eye care services and improving through her leadership role as the Ophthalmic Nurse in Charge of the Eye Clinic.
Nzovwa poses in her office at Solwezi General Hospital in North-Western Province, where she diligently examines patients' eyes.
Registered Ophthalmic Nurse
“My journey in eye health began while I was studying nursing at Kitwe School of Nursing and Midwifery. I had an allergy and whenever I visited the eye clinic to be seen, I realised how important eyes are to a human being. From there, I developed a strong desire to pursue ophthalmology.”
Working in a male-dominated field, Nzovwa says she worked with various female Ophthalmic personnel who mentored her, which sparked her interest and led her to specialise in Ophthalmology. She adds that if she had not had good exposure to the Ophthalmic field, she would not have known much about the field of ophthalmology, which is common for people who want to pursue the course.
The clinic receives many clients seeking eye care services, and as the clinic nurse in charge, Nzovwa ensures that the clinic is proactive in-service delivery, particularly for those with critical conditions requiring surgery, who are typically referred to the clinic by other health centres and Community Health Workers (CHW).
“Managing the clinic and doing hands work at the same time can be difficult at times, but when partners like Orbis through the Latter-Day Saints (LDS) provide support, it makes things easier when it comes to providing eye care services to patients.,” said Nzovwa.
Orbis has continued to provide support to Solwezi Eye Clinic in the form of consumables, equipment, and human resources to improve eye care service delivery in Solwezi.
As a team leader, Nzovwa believes in developing the team's capacity to provide quality work. She is proud of making the clinic’s optical shop run smoothly thanks to initiatives she learned from Kitwe Eye Hospital during a learning visit with her team.
Nzovwa has steadily advanced in her career by observing trends in Ophthalmology and utilising online resources such as Cybersight to learn a variety of vision lessons. She stated that knowledge is essential in the field of ophthalmology in order to deliver successful work, particularly with minor surgeries that she performs.
Aside from work, Nzovwa spends a lot of time with her family and says she has a supportive partner who always protects her from society's perception of women.
“Society should not weigh me down as a woman not being a stay home wife, because I serve the same society when working as an Ophthalmic nurse,” she said.
Our Sight-Saving Work
In February, Orbis held joint planning meetings with Community Health Workers (CHWs) in all Mufulira, Masaiti, and Chingola districts, and during the meetings, the CHWs shared some of the common challenges, such as a lack of drugs at health facilities, transportation for CHW awareness programs, IEC materials for community members, working tools for CHWs, and many others. The Orbis through the Country Director Lucia Nadaf assured the CHWs that some of the challenges will be resolved and Orbis will continue to lobby for additional support from numerous stakeholders including the Ministry of Health to address the challenges.
Community Health Workers (CHWs) plan their activities during a planning workshop held in Mufulira.
During the meeting, the Country Director emphasised the importance of integrating eye health services into other health activities, emphasising the need for a comprehensive approach to ensure communities have access to eye care. This approach will bridge the gap between the existing inefficiencies in the provision of eye health in the communities where services are far away.
Clinical Coordination Meeting in Kalumbila District of North-Western Province
Strengthening partnerships in the districts where we provide services in the North-western is a crucial element that helps to plan activities with all the stakeholders who work hand in hand with Orbis.
District eye clinics supported by Orbis were invited to the meeting to discuss some of the challenges they have been facing and to share best practices to provide comprehensive services. During the meeting, the Provincial Health Director stated that the need to integrate and complement the efforts of Orbis cannot be overstated and that officers must continue to support eye health services in order for the province to have adequate capacity to provide the services.
Orbis staff and partners pause for a photo during a clinical coordination meeting held in Kalumbila North-western Province.
Orbis Senior Programs Manager Ruth Nswana emphasized the importance of adequately planning ahead of time so that activities that have stalled can be completed on time. She also stated that the partners must improve on communication, which is a critical component in reaching eye health beneficiaries who want to access eye care services.
Clinical Training
Orbis has lined up several Hospital Based Training (HBT) opportunities for ophthalmologists and faculty at the UTHs Eye Hospital and Kitwe Teaching Eye Hospital to train in various specialties as part of its ongoing support for Human Resource for Eye Health (HReH). This training will take place in the later part of the year.
In February Hunter Cherwek and Hillary Twigs visited Zambia to conduct a Simulation HBT at the UTHs Eye Hospital POST Graduate Resource Centre. This involved working with the faculty and residents in the wetlab.
Resident doctors witness eye surgery demonstrations at the University Teaching Hospitals' Eye Hospital wet lab.
Enhancing National Data Collection and Improvement Efforts
Orbis Zambia has continued to ensure and support any data improvement interventions to ease reporting and have quality in the available data for effective Monitoring and Evaluation data collection.
The Ministry of Health has made significant strides towards improving eye health service delivery with the creation of specialized eye hospitals at the University Teaching Hospital – Eye Hospital and Kitwe Teaching Eye Hospital and the improvement in the type and quality of services offered at various hospitals and clinics countrywide. Despite these improvements, data management in most eye hospitals has lagged with only standard data collection tools for ophthalmic services currently in use. The current data tools being used at the two specialized Eye Hospitals have not been standardised from the time they were upgraded to the Tertiary level leading to improvised registers and activity sheets being used thus affecting the quality of data generated. During the Health Management Information System (HMIS) Tools review meeting held in Kabwe from 26th to 30th December 2022, it was resolved that there is an urgent need to revise, update and develop hospital data collection tools that reflect the level of services offered in different Eye Hospitals.
In view of the foregoing, the National Eye Health office organised a meeting with the aim of revising, updating, and developing hospital data collection tools for all levels of eye health services in Zambia with the help of eye health partners such as Orbis International-Zambia, Sightsavers, Onesight EssiloLuxottica Foundation, and Christian Blind Mission.
The meeting took place from March 14th to 21st 2023 at Pizo Lodge in Kabwe and the objectives were as follows;
- Revise, update, and develop hospital data collection tools that reflect the level of services offered in different Eye Units.
- Identify data elements and indicators earmarked for inclusion in the HIA3 form.
- Develop the eye health HIA3 form for the different levels of care.
William's Clear Sight
Spending seven years without seeing and living a disabled lifestyle, life was difficult for William as a provider, father, and husband.
In Sunganani Village of Chief Mbuluma one must be a subsistence farmer to ensure that family is well-fed. Life continues to revolve like that in the rural area of Luangwa for most families. It was not the case for William Chinyanga as he spent most of his time just seated not doing anything.
Born on 1st January 1990 William is the father to four children and breadwinner to a family of Chinyanga.
William clears weeds in his maize field
William is a farmer from Luangwa District in Lusaka.
“I could not believe my eyes were going blind in 2014. I have been looking after my family by providing all the basic things they need, and losing my sight was very disturbing,”
Living in a society where men are expected to be the providers of the family it became difficult for William to have his self-esteem knowing that he could not provide in the state he was. Many would tease him saying “he only received food while seated” a teasing statement implying that he was helpless and only be fed by his wife.
“I felt disappointed with myself that I had to leave my matrimonial to avoid societal stigmatization and humiliation and went to live with my parents at Sunganani Village in Luangwa,” he said.
While living with the hardships of moving from one clinic to another to seek solutions, he was only provided with eye drops that could not heal his bilateral cataract on both eyes. In 2021 he was informed by Zenas Mbewe a Clinic Officer at Luangwa District Hospital that there would be a cataract surgical camp at the hospital conducted by doctors from the University Teaching Hospital’s Eye Hospital (UTH) [and sponsored by Orbis] and was educated on the importance of undergoing cataract surgery.
During the same period William underwent cataract surgery where both his eyes were restored from bilateral cataracts, a condition that caused a lot of discomfort for seven years.
“When the doctor was removing the bandages from my eyes, I had so much faith that my vision will be restored and for sure I was able to see my grown children whom I saw when they were babies,” said William.
Upcoming Events
Preparations for the Flying Eye Hospital (FEH) project that will be held from September 25th to October 13th 2023 are underway. Planning for the FEH involves a lot of logistics to be put in place and requires a lot of support from various parties. Orbis Zambia has been on the ground to ensure a successful FEH touch-down and visit in September.
FEH and Zambia team pose for a photo after monitoring the airport's premises in readiness for the FEH visit in September.
The FEH team visited Zambia in February 2023 to plan the FEH activity with the Zambia team and the UTHs Eye Hospital. The team visited various locations that are directly or indirectly related to the FEH, such as the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Transport and Communications, and regulatory bodies that issue licenses to medical practitioners who will be conducting hands-on training and surgeries on the plane.
