Download Research at the Eye Hospital Group

What we do
What we do
Context The Main Hospital Gaza Clinic Hebron Hospital Anabta Centre Mobile
Outreach Training and Teaching Research at the Eye Hospital
Publications
Support Us
Research at the Eye Hospital Group
In 2008, the Hospital Group completed the first major Epidemiology Study into
Blindness in the Occupied Palestinian Territories...
The World Health Organisation’s initiative, ‘Vision 2020, The Right to Sight’, is
aiming to eliminate all avoidable blindness in the world by the year 2020. Though
ambitious, there is already evidence that since its inception in 1999, world blindness has
begun to decline, and the International Association for the Prevention of Blindness
(IAFB) has set up regional groups to act as think tanks and to help implement localised
strategies.
However, until recently, there has been no national study which meets the World Health
Organisation’s benchmark in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). There were
no comprehensive, baseline data on blindness and visual impairment for eye service
planning or evaluation in OPT.
In 2008, thanks to kind generosity of the Linbury Trust, the St. John Eye Hospital
Group successfully completed the first epidemiology study of this kind to be done in the
Middle East. At least eight other countries in the region are hoping to follow our
example.
Two teams covered the West Bank and one operated in Gaza. Despite the many
challenges incurred conducting research in a difficult environment, the field work was
completed in seven weeks, during which time we examined the required 3800 people.
The municipal authorities provided maps and guides. Cramped housing in Gazan
refugee camps at least meant distances between homes were shorter there. Despite very
hot and often humid conditions, team members took pride in the work. Much to our
advantage, the Palestinian people were warm in welcoming us into their homes.
Having just completed this study, the world now has some important results available.
We can conclude that blindness remains ten times higher in Palestine than in the UK,
and that 3% of people over 50 are afflicted. The amount of blind people in Gaza is
almost twice that of the West Bank. Avoidable blindness in Palestine accounts for
eighty percent of all blindness. Just over half of blind people could probably have their
sight restored with routine cataract surgery.
We found that one in every six blind people found difficulty in paying deterred them
from having surgery (even transport can be too expensive). One-in-six blind people in
the West Bank were not even aware that an operation might successfully improve their
sight.
The St. John Eye Hospital was confirmed as the largest health service to provide
cataract surgery, performing half of all cataract operations in the West Bank and a
quarter of all surgery in Gaza. Corneal blindness and diabetic retinopathy were the next
most common causes of blindness, both of which are treatable conditions.
The next step will be to find out what this all means for the Hospital and the OPT.
What we can say is that the St. John Eye of Jerusalem Eye Hospital Group, with its aim
of low cost, high quality care, is providing a very much needed service in Palestine.
We now need to come together with other health service providers in the region and
focus on how we can reduce the amount of blindness, particularly in Gaza. Other
needs such as health education and a look at all aspects of diabetic eye disease
management will have to be considered.
However, if there is something that we have been able to show with this research, it is
that since its founding 126 years ago, The St. John Eye Hospital has remained
determined to be at the forefront of tackling the big questions.
Behçet's Disease:
St John Eye Hospital Group On-going Research Project
Behçet’s Disease is a chronic condition in which the body's immune system, which
normally protects the body against infections, becomes over-active. It causes
inflammation of different parts of the body, which may flare up without warning and
can occur wherever there is a blood supply. Small blood vessels are particularly
affected, and inflammation can appear in patches in areas where there are clusters of
small blood vessels. Where this occurs in the body dictates the symptoms a person
experiences.
Behçet’s Disease generally begins when a person is in their 20s or 30s. It is rare in the
UK and more common in Mediterranean countries, Turkey, the Middle East, Japan and
South-East Asia.
The condition can result in skin lesions and also affects the joints, all types of vessels,
lungs, central nervous system and digestive tract. Behçet’s Disease is characterized by
recurrent oral and /or genital ulcerations, and inflammation of the eyes (Uveitis).
The management of Behçet’s Disease remains problematic due to the still incomplete
knowledge of the disease mechanisms determining its course in individual patients
(Hatemi et al., Ann Rheum Dis. 2008).
Thus the collection of clinical, as well as genetic data, from patients with Behçet’s
Disease referred to the St John Eye Hospital Group constitutes an important source of
medical research.
Research is conducted in collaboration with the Rheumatology unit at Hadassah
Medical Center in East Jerusalem and is supported by the Ridley foundation in London.
The recent acquisition of advanced imaging technology (spectral OCT) through a grant
from the Japanese government has enhanced our capabilitiy to assess complications of
Behcet's disease and correlate ocular inflammation with genetic risk factors.
The impact of the Eye Hospital Group’s investigations into Behçet’s Disease is given
further authority by ongoing participation in the international multi-centre study
coordinated by Professor Miles Stanford in London.
Professor Stanford is a clinical academic with a major interest in inflammation and the
eye. He trained at St Thomas’ and Kings College Hospitals and has been involved in
clinical and basic research into the causes and treatment of ocular inflammation for the
last 20 years and currently runs dedicated tertiary referral clinics at St Thomas' Hospital
for the diagnosis and treatment of these disorders. His major interests are in the
epidemiology of ocular toxoplasmosis and the immunogenetics of ocular inflammation.

© St John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital 2007 Registered Charity No. 1080185