Health Briefs
The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) has begun a three-day medical outreach in Onopa community, Bayelsa
It said that the medical outreach was to eliminate and prevent visual impairment and childhood blindness in Yenagoa Local Government Area of the state.
Its Head of Corporate Relations, Mr Igo Weli, this on Friday at the Eye Care Programme for Onopa community in Yenagoa.
The programme, titled “Vision First Initiative’’, is an exercise initiated in 2019 in the Niger Delta under the SPDC’s Health-In-Motion Programme regularly held across its host communities.
Weli said that the initiative focused on promoting eye health seeking behaviour.
Weli, who was represented by the External Relations Manager, Mr Amaechi Ucheoma, said that it was geared towards the elimination and prevention of visual impairment and childhood blindness in its host communities.
According to him, SPDC is working in collaboration with the Bayelsa State Ministry of Health, Onopa community and Pro-Sight International Eye Foundation to benefit the people.
“The SPDC JV Vision First Initiative is adopting the World Health Organisation’s theme for 2023, ‘The Right to Sight’.
“The purpose is to continue to provide eye care services to the people in the effort to eliminate preventable and treatable blindness in communities.
“The attention given to the eye is because the eye plays a critical role in every facet and stage as the light of our body and the world around us. However, it is often neglected.
“Statistics from International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) reveal that at least 1.1 billion people globally have vision loss.
“Some visually impaired are unable to move without help. Cataracts are responsible for more than half of the blindness, with four per cent being childhood blindness, while 90 per cent are preventable and treatable conditions.
“The Nigeria National Blindness and Visual Impairment Survey estimated that 1.13 million individuals aged 40 years and older are currently blind and 4.25 million are visually impaired.”
Weli advised the people of Onopa to take advantage of the opportunity to receive quality health care.
“These include health promotion, screening, treatment (curative) and on-sight surgical procedures.
“Today, it is my pleasure to invite and encourage everyone to take advantage of this opportunity.
“There is need for everyone to be empowered with eye health information, be screened, and be treated for any visual impairment or challenges.” he said.
In his remarks, the State Commissioner for Health, Dr Pabra Igwele, represented by Dr Oputa Kemepado, described the eye as very critical to the body and therefore needed proper care.
Similarly, His Royal Highness, Tamama Morris, Paramount Ruler, Onopa community, represented by the Secretary of the community, Wongs Goodhead Alex, thanked SPDC for the gesture.
Also speaking, Mrs Ayibanegiyefa Egba, a member, Bayelsa State House of Assembly, also lauded the company for initiating the programme.
Egba called on the people to always go and check their eyes as well as for treatment.
One of the beneficiaries, Mr Aherhoke Okioma, a Bayelsa based journalist, who underwent an eye surgery, commended the SPDC for the outreach and appealed that the exercise be made more regular.
“I am here for an official assignment, but decided to undertake checkup and thereafter the doctor told me that I needed a surgery and was ushered into the theatre and within 30 minutes I was out,’’ he said. (NAN)
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Tags: Mr Igo Weli
