The second round of the Free Eye Care intervention of the Kwara State Government under the leadership of Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq commenced on Friday at the General Hospital, Kaiama.
Speaking with newsmen on the intervention, the Permanent Secretary in the state Ministry of Health, Dr. Abubakar Ayinla said the surgical team were already in Kaiama in the Kwara North Senatorial district where the Free Eye Surgery had kicked off.
Dr Ayinla said the outreach services will span 6 weeks with the team spending a week each at General Hospitals in Okuta, Lafiagi and Patigi which are designated centres for Kwara North while General hospital Omu Aran will host cases identified in Kwara South and the exercise will be rounded up at the Civil Service Hospital, Ilorin.
The surgical team, according to him, will stay for 2 days in each of the communities and return to their base to provide routine services while preparing for the next outing.
He explained that the surgeries will be conducted on weekly basis in each of the designated centres for indigent patients who cannot afford the cost of treating the eyes.
Dr. Ayinla added that the intervention is a sight restoring intervention mainly for people who have cataract in either or both eyes.
The Permanent Secretary urged all patients who had been given prior appointments to avail themselves of this opportunity to restore their sights from ailments that would otherwise have been avoidable if they were financially buoyant.
He further commended the State Governor for his people oriented life changing interventions, especially considering that this new exercise is coming few months after a statewide intervention to each of the local Governments of the state.
