South African Doctors Perform 133 Free Cataract Surgeries

0:00It's April 4th. This is Global News Today, driven by AI tracking the world in real time. Doctors in South Africa pulled off a site-saving marathon, performing free cataract surgeries on 133 patients across two. Hospitals near Johannesburg over two weekends last month. These quick 15-20-minute operations replace clouded lenses with artificial ones, fixing the top cause of preventable blindness, especially, among the elderly in public health systems. Just like 84-year-old Gladys Cosa had waited years, some since 2019, just to see clearly again missing family faces, Bible, reading, and even late-night soaps. Volunteering ophthalmologist Tebogo Fakude called it beautiful, noting how restored vision eases depression and that heavy feeling of being a burden. Drawing from his own mom's blindness. This public-private push started on Mandela Day in 2023, and now hits backlogs regularly, handling South Africa's 300,000.

1:01Annual cases emit a 240,000-person waitlist, proving these ops restore real independence worldwide.