Eye clinic inaugurated at Asamankese

Asamankese, May 05, GNA - A GHC 40,000 eye clinic was on Tuesday inaugurated at the Asamankese Government hospital. The clinic is one of four fully equipped eye clinics, funded by the Standard Charted Bank. The others are sited at Suhum, Donkorkrom and Nkawkaw all in the Eastern Region.

Speaking at the inauguration, Mr Hemen Shah, Chief Executive Officer of the bank in Ghana and area General manager for West and Central Africa, said those projects were possible through the partnership with Sight Savers International and the Ministry of Health. He said in 2007, the bank launched a comprehensive eye care project in the eastern region under its "seeing is believing" initiative with Sight Savers and the Ministry of Health. The three-year project sought to protect over one million people from blindness through the distribution of Mectizan (which prevent river blindness) in addition to the training of eye care personnel and the provision of infrastructure and equipment. The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Samuel Ofosu -Ampofo, expressed appreciation to the Standard Charted bank and Sight Savers for supporting a worthy cause with their "precious gift", He appealed to the Regional Health Directorate to seek support for the establishment of a mobile eye clinic so that people in the remote areas of the region could benefit from eye care and hoped the bank, Sight Savers and the Ministry of Health could help in that direction. Mr Ofosu Ampofo asked health personnel to use dialogue instead of strikes for the re-dress of grievances since strike endangers lives. The Regional Director of Sight Savers West Africa, Mr Ben Hoefnagels, said Sight Savers presently spent 42 billion US dollars a year to improve the sight of people world-wide and hope the bill would go up to 110 billion dollars by the year 2020.

The Regional Director said a survey conducted in the eastern region showed that 15,000 people were blind and 30.000 had severe or moderate sight impairment and his organization was helping to improve their condition. He said 75 percent of all blindness was preventable or avoidable. The Regional Director of Health services, Dr Erasmus Agongo, thanked the bank and Sight Savers for their immense contribution in the form of buildings, provision of equipment, including consumable materials, capacity building such as training of doctors, nurses and community eye-care providers. 05 May 10