Ophthalmic Work

An interesting summary was made of the work done at the Ophthalmic Department at Helwan, covering both 1 and 2 General Hospitals, from 1940 to 31 December 1943. It covers out-patients as well as in-patients.

	NZ	British and Others	Total
Total new cases	6800	1972	8772
Spectacles ordered for	2090	922	3012
Superficial infections			2521
Battle casualties			252
Accidental injuries			366

In addition, 306 men were regraded, 198 for return to New Zealand and 108 for base duties. The number of men in whom the disabilities were present at enlistment was estimated at 200. Battle casualties were not included in these figures for medical boards. At this stage the number of men in 2 NZEF who had lost one eye was 51, while two had lost both eyes and ten had contracted sockets. The number of men requiring regrading soon after their arrival in the Middle East had dropped away considerably following the careful investigation of reinforcement drafts by the mobile optician units in New Zealand.