Dr. Jeff Rutgard brings new vision to people of Marshall Islands

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
San Diego, California, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) October 28, 2011 -- October 28, 2011

Public Health Program: Ebeye, Marshall Islands

By: Jeffrey Rutgard MD, MS
Member Hawaii Public Health Association
Member Board of Directors, Hawaiian Eye Foundation
Member Board of Directors, Project Vision Hawaii

Public Health Issue:

According to the World Health Organization, age-related cataracts are responsible for 48% of the world’s blindness.  This translates to about 18 million people, and although cataracts can be alleviated by surgery in many poor countries, the availability of this operation is dreadfully inadequate.  Cataract surgery in developing countries is typically unobtainable for the poor, both financially and (frequently) geographically as well.

In many rural areas far from cities, the poor have challenges to adequate health carde. In many instances, the distance to travel (by bus, boat, horseback, or walking) is too difficult or costly for a blind person. Once there, he/she (along with a family member) must afford a place to stay overnight and meals while waiting in line to see the doctor at this free clinic.  From my experience, if the government clinic decides surgery can be done, the blind patient is asked to join a “waiting list,” to return months later to have the surgery. The financial burden increases, as now a return trip is necessary, including accommodations and food for two.

Millions of impoverished gradually lose their vision from progressing cataracts until blindness becomes a way of life. Month, years, and even decades go by, the poor blind suffering in darkness. The unrealized suffering involves an additional family member who is designated to stay with the blind relative assisting with basic hygiene, feeding and making sure they don't stumble and fall.

Most of us who don't participate as a volunteer in the medical mission field aren't aware that the blindness of one family member immediately results in (now) two affected family members. Both need to eat, but neither are available to work and earn the stipend necessary to buy food.  Either both go hungry, or other family members must give up some of their already limited food to share with the two unable to work.

At the clinic in Fiji, many patients come from distances requiring a two-day trek by boat, a bus, and walking. Our team feeds the patients 3 meals a day. They are given mattresses and clean linens to sleep. Treating the poor with dignity and respect while restoring their sight is a blessing for Dr. Jeff Rutgard and his team of volunteers.

One of the poorest most populated islands in the world, Ebeye lies within the Kwajalein Atoll of the Marshall Islands. Dr. Jeff Rutgard has just returned from a humanitarian eye surgery mission to this island. Ebeye is an extremely poor atoll in the Marshall Island chain. The cultural mixture of the islanders is a blend of cultures from the countries of Philippines, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and China. The island people are very friendly and peaceful in nature. They are soft spoken, good natured and have rich oral tradition of chants, songs, and legends. They value friends and are always welcoming.

In the Marshall Islands, the word for welcome as well farewell is “Yokwe,” similar to the spirit of Aloha. Yokwe literally means, “You are a rainbow” and this is how these islanders feel about each individual; you are someone special. The poverty of this atoll is extreme, with no industry present on this island of coral shell.

Ebeye with a population of more than 15,000 is the most populous island of Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. A tsunami disaster waiting to happen, this 80 acre island, a 30 minute ferry boat ride from Kwajalein. Ebeye is the center for Marshallese culture, and with no significant birth control over 50% of the population is estimated to be under the age of 18. Ebeye has been given the unattractive and unofficial title of "Slum of the Pacific” because of its common shanties and extreme crowded living conditions, along with a dilapidated school building, inadequate school system, and scarce clean water.

History of Ebeye:

Prior to the early 1950s, a large number of present-day residents of Ebeye, resided on numerous small islands within Kwajalein, the world’s largest atoll. It encompasses nearly 100 islands surrounding a huge lagoon. However, Kwajalein island was used as a support base for the nuclear tests conducted at Bikini Atoll and Enewetak Atoll. For that reason, Marshallese residents of Kwajalein were relocated by U.S. authorities to a small, planned community constructed on Ebeye, an unpopulated island which served as a Japanese seaplane base prior to War World II.

Some of the residents of Ebeye are refugees or descendants of refugees from affected by the nuclear test at Bikini Atoll on March 1, 1954, which rained radioactive snow on nearby Rongelap Atoll, which unfortunately had not been evacuated, as had Bikini. The fallout caused 100 people to have radiation sickness, and later, the birth of tragically malformed infants. American authorities responded by evacuating Rongelap and relocating the residents to Ebeye.

With the advent of the U.S. Military Nike-Zeus, anti-ballistic missile testing program of the 1960s, the U.S. military once again, deemed it necessary to evacuate a vast sector of the atoll to create a target zone in which unarmed guided missiles could be aimed from the continental United States. The result was whole communities of Kwajalein residents relocated from the "Mid-Atoll Corridor" to Ebeye.

Subsequent population growth by migration from outlying rural atolls and islands throughout the Marshalls created a major housing shortage and problems with resources throughout the following decades. Sadly, it is the fifth most densely populated island in the world.

This humanitarian Canvasback, Hawaiian Eye Foundation, and SEE International eye medical mission program resulted in over 209 sight restoring eye surgical procedures, along with over 600 patients being examined, and over 50 retinal laser procedures to slow down the blinding effects of diabetic retinopathy. In addition, the local Marshallese medical staff was educated in the eye conditions and treatments which were performed, and participated in assisting the physicians, nurses, and patients.

Dr. Jeff Rutgard is working with Project Vision Hawaii, Hawaiian Eye Foundation, and the Hawaii Public Health Association to provide needed medical care, education, and research for the people of Hawaii, and the South Pacific. Dr. Rutgard has done more than 100 humanitarian medical projects throughout the developing world and has performed more charity eye surgeries than any other known ophthalmologist. Dr. Rutgard is a full-time volunteer, serving the poor around the world, and does not receive any compensation for this humanitarian medical and surgical work. He is working with Project Vision Hawaii to help with the needs of the people of Hawaii and the many who have come from the Pacific and South Pacific Islands.

cataracts     dr. jeff rutgard     Eye Ambassador     Hawaiian Eye Foundation     idoctor blog     jeff rutgard     Marshall Islands     Project Vision Hawaii