More than 1,000 inhabitants of Ellembelle district benefit from free cataract surgery

More than 1,000 people have undergone free cataract surgery and other related eye problems at the St Martin de Pores Catholic Hospital at Ekwe in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region.

The medical team, led by Dr Seth Lartey, a consultant at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi said various forms of cataracts had been reported by the community members during routine screening by the medical team annually.

He said the complications of cataracts included infection, retinal detachment, inflammation inside the eye, swelling inside the eye, glaucoma, and hemorrhage.

According to Dr Lartey, many of the patients would have gone totally blind, but for the timely intervention to rescue the patients mostly from deprived communities adding “our main focus is on cataract and the reason being cataract is the commonest cause of blindness in Ghana and is responsible for over 51 percent of all blindness in the country.”

He appealed to people with eye-related complications to report early to the nearest health facility for treatment than sitting down to become completely blind.

The lead consultant said medical advancement had made the treatment of cataracts simpler, and so people with any eye complications should seek early medical attention since the eye was very important to any man.

A retired Ghana Broadcasting Corporation staff, Mr Somiah Andoh and Seth Nyame, an opinion leader from Nkroful, expressed their profound gratitude to the three members of parliament who over the years had been championing free medical screening for the people.

The free medical screening was made possible by three Members of Parliament: Mr. Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah;(MP-Ellembelle), Madam Dorcas Afo-Toffey(MP-Jomoro), and Kofi Arko Nokoe of Evalue-Ajomoro-Gwira.

Mr. Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah on behalf of his colleagues said over 1,000 people had been battling with cataracts in the Nzema area, and the spread had caused many families with avoidable blindness due to lack of information, education, and financial constraints.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) constituency chairman for Ellembelle, Mr. Alex Mahama, who supervised the program urged the people to continue to give their support to the three lawmakers to bring more development to the communities.