GCB Bank Limited has donated an auto-refractor equipment to the Tamale Central Hospital in the Northern Region.

The equipment valued at over GHC20,000.00 is the first of its kind in the area and will help in determining eye refraction errors for diagnosis and treatment.

The donation to the hospital forms part of a three-day comprehensive free eye care programme organised by the Bank in collaboration with Third Eye Care and Vision Centre.

The donation followed an eye screening and treatment exercise in Nanton which saw over 800 people being screened and provided with free medication and spectacles under the Bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility project for the year 2017.

The Head of Support Services Department of the Bank, Mr Robert Akati Adamu, presented the auto-refractor to the authorities of the hospital.

Mr Abdulai Fatawu, the administrator of the hospital, thanked GCB and promised that the equipment would be used for its purpose.

He appealed to other corporate bodies and philanthropists to follow the good example of GCB.

The Senior Optometrist of the hospital, Dr Daniel Opoku-Gyamfi, also expressed his appreciation to the Bank and said with the equipment, more patients can receive prompt attention. Currently only 10 patients are attended to daily but this will improve with the auto-refractor.

Dr Opoku-Gyamfi said 140 people who were referred to the hospital after the free eye screening exercise in Nanton would benefit from the use of the auto-refractor at no cost.

Dr Kwame Obeng-Nyarko of the Third Eye Care and Vision Centre explained that the Centre in collaboration with other eye specialists conducted a research and found that Tamale lacked an auto-refractor and made the recommendation to GCB for its acquisition for the hospital.

He added that this equipment would help reduce waiting time and serve more people with refractive errors in the community.

The Head of Corporate Affairs and Investor Relations Department of GCB, Mrs Thyra Obuobi, stated that “because GCB has branches spread all over the country, we are close to the communities and so we are able to easily identify the needs of the people and we are proud to be part of this collaboration”.

Present at the ceremony were Mr Mahmoud Gomda, the Tamale Regional Manager and Mr Muniru Muktar, Head, Customer Service Department of the Bank.