Member of Parliament (MP) for Jomoro in Western Region, Mr. Paul Essien has organized a free eye surgery for 72 residents in his constituency.

This follows a free eye screening exercise for the residents somewhere in December last year during which the patients were identified to have serious eye problems.

The exercise was sponsored by Mr. Essien at a cost of GHc137,000 and undertaken by Friends Eye Center, a Tamale-based hospital in conjunction with Unite For Sight, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) based in Connecticut in the United States of America with auxiliary staff from the Global Impact Fellow in the USA.

Speaking to the media, Mr. Essien reiterated that the healthcare needs of the people were on top of his agenda and would continue to seek their interest to keep them physically fit.

Mr. Essien said as part of his avowed commitment towards affordable health delivery, work would be completed on three health centres at Tikobo No.1, Elubo and Samenye by the end of the year.

The MP said the exercise would not be a nine-day wonder adding that another eye screening and surgical exercise would be organized by the end of December 2018 to support patients who want to access eye care in the area.

The Medical Director at the Friends Eye Center an Ophthalmologist, Dr. Seth Wanye identified cataract and pterygium as major conditions affecting the eye which degenerates into glaucoma.

He told the media that the eye lenses of some of the patients had to be removed and replace with another layer of the eye and provide them with eye drops to avoid complications leading to blindness.

Dr. Wanye admitted that severe visual impairment was a major cause of the high eye diseases in the country leading to cataract blindness according to the World Health Organization's (WHO) projected figure of 75%.

The medical doctor observed that a number of ophthalmologists abound in the Southern sector of Ghana but most patients were not aware and appealed to the Secretariat at the Ghana Health Services to develop a database to direct patients where to access eye care services.

He lauded the MP for the sponsorship since a patient would have to pay US$80 for an eye test and US$600 for an eye surgery at the hospital.

A Volunteer from the Global Impact Fellow in the USA, Margee Lenze assured eye patients that blindness was preventable if only they sought medical attention very early.