1,500 People Received Free Eye Treatment

One thousand five hundred people in the Kwahu area of the Eastern Region have received free eye treatment from a six-member medical team from the Foot Hill Presbytery in South Carolina Presbyterian Church in the United State during a two-week free eye care treatment at the Abetifi Health Centre.

Over 40 of them had cataract operations, while about 1,000 others also received free reading and sight glasses. The exercise is an annual collaboration between the Foot Hill and Kwahu Presbyteries to offer free eye care treatment to the poor and needy.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency at Abetifi last Friday, the leader of the team, Dr (Mrs) Judith Simon, said they could have performed more surgeries on people with cataract but frequent power outage in the area destroyed some of their medical equipment, while some of the equipment also got lost in transit.

She advised those who had been referred to the Agogo Presbyterian Hospital and the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital with glaucoma cases not to hesitate to go since they could be totally blind if they failed to undergo treatment soon.

Dr Simon advised them to apply the eye drugs and use their reading/sight glasses as well as take other medical advice given them seriously to correct other sight defects.

The Principal Medical Assistant in-charge of the Health Centre, Mr Ignatius Ayonna, appealed for a stand-by generator for the health centre to save lives and other medical equipments from the frequent power outage. He commended the team for their contribution to improve the sight of the poor and vulnerable in the society.