Tema, July 14, GNA - Dr Dong-Hae Kim, Chief Executive of Vision Care Service (VCS), a Korean non-governmental organisation, committed to restoring sight and sharing vision, on Tuesday embarked on a free medical care in Tema. The organisation is targeting about 100 surgical operations on cataract patients.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency at the Tema General Hospital where the medical team is undertaking the eye screening exercise, Dr Kim said VCS is in Ghana for the first time to provide free eye screening, lenses and surgical operations for patients.

Dr Kim is leading a 21-member team, made up of three medical doctors, four nurses, two optometrists and seven volunteers from the US. He said the team are in the country at the invitation of the Korean Society in Ghana and the Tema Chapter of Lions Club International. Mrs Olivia Elorm, Principal Nursing Officer in charge of the Tema Eye Clinic urged Ghanaians not to wait for free eye screening exercises before recourse for checkups.

She said the commonest eye problems in adults in Ghana are cataracts, glaucoma, injuries, refractive error and cornea scar. Mrs Elorm explained that glaucoma does not show any symptoms and it is only through early detection that patients can be saved from blindness. She reiterated that high blood pressure and diabetes could also cause retinopathies, which could also cause blindness. Mrs Elorm therefore advised people to regulate their sugar level to the barest minimum to avoid blindness.