Muanema Fakira noticed her 2-year-old daughter Sumaya had a cloudy left eye, prompting visits to various health clinics in Mozambique. After a lengthy journey, they reached Quelimane, where Dr. Isaac Vasco da Gama diagnosed Sumaya with a congenital cataract caused by early-life infection. He reassured Ms. Fakira that despite her skepticism, cataracts can affect children, and timely surgery is feasible. Dr. da Gama, being one of only three pediatric ophthalmologists in Mozambique, emphasizes the surgery's benefits for a child’s physical and developmental well-being.
Her left eye was cloudy. It did not gleam with curiosity or glint in the sun. When the problem persisted, Ms. Fakira made the rounds to health clinics in their town.
Cataracts are for old people, she said. But Dr. da Gama explained that an infection at birth, or shortly after, can cause cataracts in children.
This was particularly lucky for Sumaya because Dr. da Gama is one of just three pediatric ophthalmologists in Mozambique, a country of 30 million people.
But the good news, he said, was that the problem can be solved with a simple surgery, one he does a dozen times a week at Quelimane Central Hospital.
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