About 500 people in Funsi and surrounding communities in the Wa East District have benefited from free eye screening from Bliss Eye Care, a private eye clinic in Wa.
The people who attended the screening were either given medications or reading glasses depending on their eye conditions, with about 20 of them receiving reading glasses at no cost.
Some of the beneficiaries who spoke to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) after the exercise expressed gratitude to Bliss Eye Care for extending free eye screening service to their community.
Accessing eye care services at Funsi had been virtually impossible due to the lack of eye specialists at the health facility in the community compelling persons with eye conditions to travel to either Issa in the Daffiama-Bussie-Issa District or Wa for those services.
Mr Dodi Bachan Issah, a teacher at the Funsi Senior High School, one of the beneficiaries who were given a reading spectacle could not hide his joy and said it would help relieve him of the challenges he went through to read his books before going to teach.
“Anytime I am in a dark place, whether day or night, I am not able to read my books, but with this spectacle, I can now read. I did not pay anything for it, it is free of charge, and I thank Bliss Eye Care for that.
“They are doing a yeoman’s job … I pray for him and anyone who supports him to do this for his people,” he said.
Miss Munira Halitu Dumah, another beneficiary, said she had been visiting health facilities with her itchy eyes condition for a long time, but the condition persisted until Bliss Eye Care intervened and provided her with a reading glass.
Bliss Eye Care had been organizing free eye screening exercises for school children under its Blissful Sight for Kids project, and had over the past six years, screened thousands of children with eye conditions and provided free medications and reading glasses to those who required them.
Dr Zakarea Al-hassan Balure, an Optometrist and Manager of Bliss Eye Care, said they included the elderly in the screening as that was a Christmas offer for them and accessing those services at the community was difficult.
“Unlike other sicknesses that if you have it, you cannot do anything, with eye conditions, you do not feel pain, and because of that people feel reluctant to go for treatment. Sometimes, the time they will be going to the facility, it is too late,” he explained.
The people were screened with conditions such as trachoma, glaucoma, refractive errors, conjunctivitis, and cornea opacities, and were given medications and reading glasses, while others were also referred to Wa for further attention.
He encouraged the public to visit the health facility anytime they had eye problems rather than attempting to self-medicate saying, “Do not treat it with herbs or do not self-medicate. Eyes are delicate and have no replacement.”
He expressed hope that they would increase their screening exercise in the ensuing year to benefit more children in the region and described 2022 as generally successful as far as the screening exercise was concerned.
GNA
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Sourcegna.org.gh