Cataracts are an eye condition caused when the lens of the eye develops cloudy patches. Over time these patches usually grow bigger, causing blurry, misty vision. While it is often the result of old age, it can also happen as the reuslt of eye injuries. In developing countries, a child who develops cataracts will often lose their sight due to eye-saving treatment being unavailable. The international charity Sightsavers estimates that 12.6 million people are blind because of cataracts1.
Halma company Medicel, based in Altenrhein, Switzerland, makes instruments for cataract surgery that improve patients’ quality of life. Its specialist lens injectors allow surgeons to make small incisions during surgery and insert a tiny lens that corrects people’s sight. With more than 5 million lenses implanted every year with Medicel injection systems, they are helping millions of people around the world to improve their eyesight.
The positive impact of Medicel’s technology isn’t just felt by patients – it can be translated into economic benefits too. We calculated the value to society by estimating how many years patients avoided living with cataract disability; how many infections were avoided from alternative surgery methods; how much income was saved by staying in full-time employment; and how much money governments saved in medical costs supporting people with cataract disabilities.
Using established statistical methods, we estimate the annual economic benefit of cataract surgery attributable to Medicel’s technology is worth more than £600m each year – many times the cost to patients and governments.
“Each day we help our customers make the world healthier, and when we see the impact we are making in numbers, we see how we’re helping to change lives and livelihoods and communities more broadly. It makes me so proud”, explains Mauro Bühler, CEO, Medicel.
Find out more about Medicel on Our Companies page.
1. source: https://www.sightsavers.org/protecting-sight/what-are-cataracts/
