The Ghana Health Service in collaboration with the Himalayan Cataract Project has launched the National Cataract Outreach Programme (NCOP).
The National Cataract Outreach Programme aims at providing free eye screening and cataract surgery to reduce the high number of people living with cataract and other eye disorders.
The prevalence rate of blindness in the country is at 7.4 per a thousand people.
According to statistics, more than 207,000 people are living with blindness in Ghana. Additionally, over three hundred thousand in the country are also suffering from visual impairment.
Speaking at the launch of the National Cataract Outreach Programme in Koforidua, Dr. Samuel Kaba Akonyea, the Director, Institutional Care Division at the Ghana Health Service, said the staggering rate of cataract cases requires the effective integration of primary eye care at all primary health care facilities in the country.
“299,600 Ghanaians are seriously sick with visual impairment and will soon be completely blind if the necessary measures are not taken. In 2016, a total number of 15, 000 cataract surgeries were performed, but despite this huge number, we still need to be doing 40,000 per year in order to clear the backlog”.
“Unfortunately, primary eye health is frequently lacking, underdeveloped and not effectively integrated within primary health care in low-income countries and that includes Ghana. Eye care including simple conditions is often delivered at the secondary and tertiary hospitals. This increases cost to patients and health systems, and needs to be addressed immediately”.
Dr. Badu Sarkodie, the Director of Public Health delivering a speech on behalf of the Director General of Ghana Health Service Dr. Anthony Nsiah-Asare, attributed most vehicular accident cases recorded in the country to a high number of visually impaired drivers.
“Globally, more than 285 million people are visually impaired worldwide with 39 million blind and 246 million have low vision that is severe or moderate visual impairment. About 90 percent of the global burden of people living with visual impairment are in developing countries.”
Dr Badu Sarkodie then called on Ghanaians to take advantage of the outreach program said the government is committed to accelerate efforts to prevent, early detect and manage various ocular conditions well and as required.
“We would also integrate screening of diabetics at the 10 regional diabetic clinics by the eye care professionals of the various eye clinics in the Teaching Hospitals, Regional and District Hospitals, and also mount intensive public education on primary and secondary prevention of blindness and cataract, so I want every Ghanaian to take advantage of this initiative”.
Funding pleas
In an interview with Citi News, Dr. Oscar Debra, the country representative of the Himalayan Cataract Project called on government and the ministry to release funds early to manage the outreach program effectively.
“I want to plead with the Minister of Health to release the funds available at the ministry for immediate use. There have been several instances where monies allocated to be used at facilities for screening and surgeries have been locked up at the ministry for more than eight months, and it is not the case that the money is not available, but we are aware the money is sitting in accounts at the ministry, but for reasons best known to people at the ministry they keep it there and fail to release it on time”.
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By: Neil Nii Amatey Kanarku/citinewsroom.com/Ghana
