The Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) and the Rwanda National Police (RNP) will conduct a Defence and Security Citizen Outreach Programme in May to perform cataract surgeries. Cataract is the clouding of the eye’s natural lens, leading to blurred vision and, if untreated, vision loss.

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The programme supported by other government agancies, aims to perform 6,000 surgeries across the country, according to Brig Gen Dr. John Nkurikiye, Deputy Chief of Staff Military Health Service and Chief Consultant Ophthalmologist. The last time such an exercise was carried out was in 2024, when 3,000 people underwent surgery.

Nkurikiye said the plan is to conduct about 200 surgeries in each district, with priority given to people aged 50 and above.

"Screenings will start next week with support from community health workers and security personnel. The activity will be carried out in three phases, beginning with the identification of cases among people aged 50 and above by community health workers, working alongside security staff in each village,” Nkurikiye told The New Times.

"All those identified will be referred to local health centres for screening by eye health professionals. A list of patients who require surgery will then be compiled and submitted to the district hospital, where procedures will be scheduled for given dates.”

The outreach will begin with Northern Province, then move to Eastern Province and continue across the country. It is expected to end in July, but may be extended if necesary, he said.

Cataracts account for 57 percent of cases of Rwandans who are blind or visually impaired. The condition is the leading cause of blindness among people aged 50 and above.

Rwanda’s eye health programme was strengthened in 2002 with the "Right to Sight” initiative, which set the foundation for national efforts to eliminate avoidable blindness.

Since then, the strategy has been regularly updated in partnership with development organisations and focuses on expanding access to eye care, integrating services into primary healthcare, training health workers, and improving medical equipment and infrastructure.

On April 7 this year, the Cure Blindness Project and The Fred Hollows Foundation announced a partnership aimed at ending avoidable blindness in Rwanda by 2035 and reducing the surgical backlog.

The two organisations said they would work with government and other partners to expand access to eye care and strengthen health systems. Over the next five years, they plan to support more than 177,000 surgeries.

An estimated 100,000 people in Rwanda still need cataract surgery. Without action, vision loss could affect up to 1.7 million people by 2050.

The Fred Hollows Foundation has also drawn up a 10-year investment plan to eliminate the cataract backlog and build a stronger eye health system. It says Rwanda will need about $41.1 million by 2035 to achieve this.

The funding would go towards more than 125,000 cataract surgeries, setting up and strengthening 14 specialised eye units, training 25 ophthalmologists and 58,000 community health workers, and integrating eye care into the national health system. Existing eye doctors would also be trained in specialist areas where gaps exist.

"This is an important moment for global eye health,” said Katherine Overbey, CEO of Cure Blindness Project. "The scale of avoidable blindness and the barriers in the system require organisations to work together. With The Fred Hollows Foundation, we will reduce surgical backlogs, train more eye care professionals, and strengthen systems so quality eye care reaches everyone.”

Ross Piper, CEO of The Fred Hollows Foundation, said the partnership is based on the belief that sight is a basic human right. He said combining their experience in tackling cataract backlogs, strengthening health systems, and training workers with Cure Blindness Project’s experience in high-volume surgery will help speed up progress toward universal eye care, starting in Rwanda and Laos.

"Rwanda still lacks enough specialists in areas like retina and paediatric ophthalmology. Building these skills requires full-time experts who can both treat patients and train residents. These roles are rare, and bringing in such specialists comes with a cost,” said Dr. Menelas Nkeshimana, Head of the Health Workforce Department at the Ministry of Health, in a recent interview with The New Times.

He added that diabetes and high blood pressure are increasing vision problems in the country. As people age, cataracts are becoming more common. If untreated, the condition can lead not only to blindness but also to falls, injuries, and added pressure on families and the health system.

Nkeshimana noted that most ophthalmologists are based in major hospitals, leaving many of the country’s 57 district and provincial hospitals without full-time eye specialists.

"Each hospital needs at least two specialists, but many communities still do not have access to proper eye care. Replacing retirees, managing staff turnover, and preparing for population growth makes the challenge even bigger,” he said.

Nkeshimana noted that the government’s "4x4” strategy, which aims to quadruple the health workforce in four years, is helping to increase training in ophthalmology. The residency programme, which once took only two trainees a year, admitted 11 in its first year under the new plan, with senior specialists now mentoring new doctors.