Tetteh Quarshie Memorial Hospital has taken delivery of eye equipment costing about US$60,000.
These included cataract surgery set, slit lamp and motorized table, applanation tonometer, keratometer, power table, lensometer, aspheric indirect bio-lens, double aspheric indirect lens and cylinder trial lens set.
They were a gift from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
On hand, to present the equipment at a ceremony at Mampong-Akuapem, was a delegation from the Church’s Headquarters in the Salt Lake City, United States (US) led by Mr. Jesse Hunsaker.
He said it was its contribution towards the effort at improving the quality of eye care – efficient treatment of eye cases at the facility.
The team had already spent some days to train the health professionals at the Eye Unit of the hospital to properly handle the equipment.
Dr. James Addy, Director in-charge of Eye Care, Ghana Health Service, said the gift was a welcomed relief and could not have come at a better time.
It would help to deal with the high number of cataract cases.
The nation’s health facilities should be performing a total of about 54,000 cataract surgeries a year but have been doing between 20,000 and 25,000 surgeries.
He said it was against this background that the gesture by the Church should be seen as both refreshing and significant.
He thanked the Church for the assistance and said it would go a long way to bring treatment to eye patients in the Eastern and parts of the Greater Accra Region.
Dr. Georgette Osei Kontoh, Specialist Ophthalmologist at the Hospital, said the facility had been seeing about 35 and 40 eye cases every day.
She indicated that the supply of the equipment would drastically reduce referral of cases to the teaching and other facilities.
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(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)
