MONTEGO BAY, St James — Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA) has received a massive boost in its push to detect and treat diabetic retinopathy with the donation of several pieces of critical equipment.

Diabetic retinopathy is a diabetes complication that affects the eyes. It is caused by damage to the blood vessels of the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye.

At first, diabetic retinopathy might cause no symptoms or result in only mild vision problems. But it can lead to blindness.

The condition can develop in anyone who has type 1 or type 2 diabetes. The longer the person has diabetes and the less controlled is their blood sugar, the more likely the person is to develop this eye complication.

On Sunday, during an official handover exercise, American Friends of Jamaica (AFJ) presented three state-of-the-art screening cameras with artificial intelligence technology, a portable camera, three computers, a motorised table, and a laser to WRHA.

The donation was made by AFJ through the support of Paula and Danny Wegman, who funded the endeavour through a US$150,000 grant.

Dr Amoy Ramsay, clinical lead of the diabetic retinopathy screening programme for WRHA, could not hide her delight at the development.

“We are truly excited about the diabetic retinopathy screening programme in western Jamaica; we are just catching up to the rest of the country,” Ramsay told the Jamaica Observer.

“We now have one screener/grader site in each parish with a camera, and that will be integrated into the one at Cornwall Regional [Hospital] where we already have a screener/grader and patients will be referred for treatment — should they need treatment for laser or intravetral injections of the eye — for better control of their diabetic retinopathy,” explained Ramsay.

The three new cameras will be assigned to Trelawny, Hanover, and Westmoreland. They will join St James which already has one in place at Cornwall Regional Hospital donated through the United Kingdom (UK) Vision Links programmme in 2019.

According to Ramsay, following on what happened in the UK when that country started its programme, there should be a downward trend in terms of the individuals who end up with diabetic retinopathy in Jamaica.

“In the UK in 2003 they developed their diabetic retinopathy screening programme, and our diabetic retinopathy screening programme is actually modelled after their programme. We do the same classification, the same grading, and they also trained us, so we follow their protocols and we model it a little bit more for our population,” said Ramsay.

“Over time, they have reduced diabetic retinopathy significantly to the point where it is no longer the leading cause of blindness in their country,” Ramsay added.

She pointed out that people need to ensure they seek to access the screening, given the prevalence of the condition that can lead to blindness and other issues.

“I want to implore people to realise that diabetic patients do get eye disease. It’s very common, 30 per cent — that is, one in three persons have a problem with eyes,” she stated.

“If you have high blood pressure with it, high cholesterol, kidney disease, [if you are] pregnant, and children who have had diabetes from very young, they are at risk for diabetic retinopathy and blindness,” added Ramsay.

She explained that people in the western end of the island seem more prone to diabetes and issues related to this disease.

“One of the concerns is that diabetes in the western region is actually higher than the average in Jamaica. Whereas I mentioned that the national average is 11.9 per cent, we’re at 14.9 per cent and therefore our odds of having higher diabetic retinopathy are more on this side.

“We find that diabetic retinopathy in our population in the western region is actually worse in the younger people so it’s become more devastating, the visual loss in the young people, the younger generation,” added Ramsay as she underscored how grateful she is for the support received in getting the equipment into the region.

Ramsay warned that the challenges could be severe for people who do not get screened in time.

“If it’s advanced and progressive then there are no surgical options in western Jamaica, there are no surgical options in central Jamaica — it’s only available in Kingston and privately in St Mary,” she said.

“The average cost for retinal surgery for a diabetic patient is at least $1.5 million, and that’s usually cash. And if you look at our population, $1.5 million is a lot of money and what are the odds of your vision getting better from that surgery? It’s very small,” Ramsay noted as she urged her medical colleagues to refer patients for screening and also encouraged patients themselves to seek out the screening should they have diabetes.

“If they are screened annually, that’s good. And we encourage them to come back every year because it’s important not just once, but to come back every year,” she said.

The handover of the equipment by AFJ was labelled a historical moment by clinical coordinator for WRHA, Dr Delroy Fray.

“I’m looking for the next three to five years that we are going to see this diabetic retinopathy minimised to a great extent,” said Fray.

He also welcomed that fact that a support system is in place for the technology, which should see the next three years covered under a US$17,000 warranty.

“The beautiful thing about this machine, there is an inbuilt service support, which is absolutely important. With that type of support we should see zero downtime or very minimal downtime,” said Fray..

For WRHA Regional Technical Director Dr Dianne Campbell-Stennett — who wrote the initial proposal for the programme nearly two decades ago — this is a welcome development.

“It’s been a long time coming. The project first started 17 years ago when we wrote the programme and we tried to get funding for it, but we just didn’t have all the different elements at the time. And it’s just been a good opportunity now — where all the cards are in place and everything is aligned — and we have been able to get the programme going,” said Campbell-Stennett.

In the meantime AFJ President Wendy Hart thanked the Wegmans for their contribution.

“In October 2023 we honoured Paula and Danny Wegman with the International Achievement Award, and as part of the award they generously committed to donate US$150,000 for projects in western Jamaica,” revealed Hart.

“Paula Wegman has a long-time association with We Care for Cornwall, as does the AFJ, and so we spoke with the team at WRHA to see where there was the opportunity for a project that really could become a signature project,” she said.

Wegman, formerly Paula Kerr-Jarrett, shared how they were feeling about what had transpired through their donation.

“It feels absolutely fantastic to be able to help people keep their vision but more meaningful, I think, to myself and my husband Danny, was the commitment of the staff and the excitement of the people who are going to be actually running the equipment — that is really what spoke to us,” she said.

“It is one thing to donate funds to purchase equipment but it’s another thing when you see people who are absolutely dedicated to helping others and you know that you helped them to help others. There is no greater feeling,” added Wegman.