18th September, 2014
Abiodun Onafuye/Abeokuta
theatre attire)
Dr. Daniel Anthony, an ophthalmologist with the St. Mary’s Catholic Eye Specialist Hospital, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, southwest, Nigeria has put the number of unnecessary blindness in the country at 3.2 million.
The medical doctor who spoke to journalists during an eye care intervention exercise at Yinka Mafe Foundation in Sagamu local government area of the state blamed the development on ignorance, poverty and lack of access to medical facilities.
The N5, 000, 000 (five million naira) worth of medicare which was bankrolled by a member of Ogun State House of Assembly representing Sagamu I State Constituency, Asiwaju Yinka Mafe had interventions like eye screening, surgery and distribution of eye glasses.
Speaking on the intervention, the ophthalmologist explained that the programme successfully screened over 2,000 people from across the local government, adding that such will be the first intervention of such by an individual.
“There are primarily three reasons why people are unnecessarily blind, the first is ignorance of various eye disease and various medical interventions that are accessible to them; the second is the inaccessibility to an eye care facility, and the third reason is poverty but I am happy to tell you that unknown to Mafe himself, he has actually addressed all the three factors.
“We did health care talks, he has also brought us to his people on various areas, and on the cost of treatment, he has just given it to them free of charge. It is a project that seeks to reduce the risk of avoidable blindness in the community. We have had people coming out to do things for their communities, this is not the first time, but I must say this is eventually coming out on a larger scale that an individual will do,” Anthony stated.
While speaking on the programme, the sponsor explained that the programme was close to his heart, adding that, he believed in such interventions than distributing money to people in the name of politics.
“As you can see, my people are in need of eye care and I decided that I want to give back to the society, even if it is little and that is why we are doing this today, we organised a free eye screening for our people and I am happy that about 2,000 of them turned out in the whole of Sagamu local government across three centers.
“Of the 2,000, that were screened some have been selected for surgery, some require glasses and others only require drugs. We’ve given out drugs already, and today, we decided to give out glasses and commence surgery and as you can see I am just coming out of the theater.
“This is a project that is very close to my heart and that is why I am investing in it. I believe it is not just stomach care that should be done, eye care is also needed, we should forget about politicians saying we have to give people money, they’ll appreciate this better than giving them money, it is part of dividend of democracy”, the lawmaker, who is also the Chairman, House Committee on Education revealed.
Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Alhaji Isiaka Okunoren who said he has not been seeing with his left eye for some years now, disclosed that he was at the center for surgery after he got the information from his mosque, adding that, “I have earlier approached Sagamu Teaching Hospital, but I could not foot the bill given to me
which was N40, 000.”