1700 Benefit from eye screening at Madina
One thousand, seven hundred people have benefited from a three-day free eye screening exercise at Madina in Accra.
Advertisement
Some of the beneficiaries were given medications and bifocal and reading glasses, while others whose conditions were serious were operated upon at the Crystal Eye Clinic in Madina.
The free eye screening was organised by the Firdaus Foundation for Social Services, a local non-governmental organisation, in collaboration with the Eid Charitable Association of Qatar. The cost of the eye screening, surgery and glasses, amounting to GH¢100,000, was borne by the association.
Medical personnel, made up of two doctors and three nurses from the Crystal Eye Clinic, conducted the eye screening.
An eye specialist with the Crystal Eye Clinic, Dr Edwin Matekole, told the Daily Graphic that the conditions recorded included cataract and glaucoma.
Five hundred people were given bifocal and reading glasses.
Dr Matekole said surgery was performed on three children and 54 adults, while three people were given artificial eyes.
He added that those with glaucoma were given information on how to manage the condition.
Eye conditions
Dr Matekole encouraged the public to go for routine eye screening to ensure early detection and treatment of eye diseases.
He particularly urged parents to regularly take their children for eye screening to save them from infection and the consequent impact on their performance in school.
Firdaus foundation
The Director of Firdaus Foundation, Sheikh Salisu Hussein Sualah, said the association had realised that many people were suffering from eye diseases.
He said many of the people resorted to self-medication because they could not afford the cost of treatment and added that the Firdaus Foundation thought it wise to collaborate with Eid Charitable Association to provide relief for that category of people.
Sheikh Sualah expressed joy at being able to help those in need and found fulfilment in the case of a three-year-old boy who was operated upon because his parents had been struggling in the last three years to raise more than GH¢2,800 for the surgery.