The Volta Regional World Sight Day has been observed at Hohoe, with a call on the government to include drugs for the treatment of eye ailments on the National Health Insurance Drug list to enhance health care in the country.
According to Mr Yaw Asamoah, an eye patient, although most of the drugs prescribed were expensive, they had not been listed on the drug list.
" Everybody is supposed to be given equal attention and care on sight conditions. Without good sight, it is difficult to carry out our day to day activities. There is the need to have eye screening and testing exercises and changing of spectacles periodically," he said.
The region has 10 eye centres but has no ophthalmologist. The centres are at Ho, Hohoe, Kpando, Jasikan, Worawora, Nkwanta , Sogakope, Aflao, Keta and Battor.
Delivering a keynote address, a Deputy Director of Nursing Services at Hohoe, Mrs Vera Gaitu, said two ophthalmologists could man the two modern eye centres at the regional and Hohoe Municipal eye centres.
The celebration was held on the theme: " Gender And Eye Health; Equal Access to Health Care".
Mrs Gaitu also appealed to the government to provide the eye treatment centres with the requisite equipment, vehicles and other logistics to facilitate healthcare.
"In Ghana, 200,000 people are blind with two-third of the number being women and children. Eighty per cent of the causes of blindness especially cataract and glaucoma are preventable," she said.
She gave the assurance that the staff at the eye treatment centres had been trained well and were qualified to render the requisite services to their clients.
For her part, the Head of the Eye Unit of the Hohoe Municipal Hospital, Ms Agnes Ahribi, said glaucoma was the most common problem confronting the people with sight problems.
She said though glaucoma was not curable, it could be managed if reported early.
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