Eyesight of 104 farmers restored

THE eyesight of 104 farmers drawn from various communities in the Kete-Krachi District of the Volta Region has been restored after undergoing free surgical operations to remove cataract from their eyes.

Those treated have, therefore, been empowered once more to engage in economic activities and to live normal lives.

The operations formed part of a two-week eye camp mounted at the Krachi Government Hospital by the Volta Regional Health Administration to offer free screening and surgical services to patients of eye diseases.

It was sponsored by Sight Savers International, a British non-governmental organisation (NGO), in line with the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) objective to prevent "avoidable blindness" under the slogan, "The Right To Sight 2020".

Dr Fred Anyomi, an Ophthalmologist at the Volta Regional Hospital, Ho, who headed a team of three doctors and 12 eye nurses in the operations, said that in the past, many people became blind because they left eye problems to fate without seeking medical attention.

He said a total of 2, 740 persons were screened at the Krachi camp, adding that it has been found out that cataract constitutes the cause of 50 per cent of all cases of blindness.

Dr Anyomi said there is a growing response from communities to the eye care programme and that an air-conditioned bus was made available during the camp period for conveying all patients to the clinic and back to their homes after treatment.

He also said 15 volunteers from Raleigh International of the United Kingdom joined them at the camp to offer expertise in the exercise.

For his part, Dr James Clarke, an Ophthalmologist at the Emmanuel Eye Centre in Accra, dismissed claims that breast milk is a therapy for eye related problems, adding that many eye related problems are mere allergies which can go off naturally. He, therefore, stressed the need for people with eye related problems to refer them to the hospital.

Meanwhile, Mr John Majisi, Project Manager of Community Integrated Rehabilitation of the Blind (CIRB), established by Sight Savers at Kete-Krachi, has disclosed that 237 blind persons have been trained in daily living skills to enable them to cope reasonably with life in their predicament.