GCB Bank organises free eye care in Tolon, Nanton in Noethern Region
GCB Bank Limited, in collaboration with Third Eye Care and Vision Centre, an eye specialists firm, has organised a free eye screening exercise for residents of Tolon and Nanton and their surrounding communities in the Northern Region.
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Over 3,000 residents from the two communities and their environs who were screened for various eye ailments were provided with free drugs and spectacles while those who needed further attention and surgery were referred to the Tamale Central Hospital Eye Clinic.
Aside from the provision of the drugs and spectacles, the residents were also educated on preventable eye diseases.
Project
As part of the two-day eye screening exercise, the bank also donated an auto refractor eye equipment valued at GH¢20,000.00 to the Eye Clinic at the Tamale Central Hospital to enhance eye care services for the people in the region.
The screening exercise, estimated at GH¢220,000, is under the corporate social responsibility (CSR) project of GCB Bank dubbed: “Stirring passion.”
The project also covers health, the environment, education, culture, the youth, women and children, water and sanitation and targets the poor.
Target
The General Manager, Support Services Department of the GCB Bank, Mr Robert Akati Adamu, said the bank’s target was to reach out to over 12,000 people with its comprehensive eye care programme for the next four years under the CSR programme.
Mr Adamu said his outfit was working in deprived communities in collaboration with chiefs, opinion leaders and specialised institutions to ensure the successful implementation of the initiative.
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“The bank is giving true meaning to the CSR and most importantly, philanthropy, to the extent that it has moved some of its impactful CSR activities to communities such as Tolon and Nanton where it has no branches,” he stated.
Mr Adamu further stated that the CSR campaign was in tandem with the UN Global Compact and Sustainability programme.
Commendation
The Managing Director of Third Eye Care and Vision Centre, Dr Kwame Oben-Nyarko, commended GCB for the partnership, describing the intervention as an act of giving back to the society to ensure that vulnerable persons are assisted in correcting defects in their eyes.
He advised people, particularly those who are above 40 years and are diabetic or hypertensive, to have their eyes checked every six months to correct any defects to avoid blindness.
Dr Oben-Nyarko observed that majority of those screened in the exercise suffered from eye infections and that those who needed spectacles, including schoolchildren, were given.
He said with support from the GCB Bank, some people in Accra and Takoradi have also benefitted from the programme and gave an assurance that it would be extended to other places in the country.
The Head of Corporate Affairs of the GCB Bank, Mrs Thyra Obuobi, said the bank would continue to embark on its social corporate programmes to give back to society, adding: “As a bank which is national in character, we are always ready to assist where help is needed.”