Residents of Osun State have appealed to the state government to incorporate eye health into the Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) in the state to break the distance barrier in accessing eye treatment.
The residents urged the state government to establish vision centres in different locations in the state, where residents could easily access eye treatment.
A concerned resident of Osogbo, the state capital, Mrs Eni Ayeni, made an appeal to that effect on behalf of the residents, saying she realised that the people at the grassroots were finding it difficult to access eye treatment in the metropolis.
Ayeni, who is the Executive Director, Community Advancement Initiative for Self-Reliance (CAI4SR), said the people in rural areas lacked access to eye care since as it was not available in the PHCs.
She made the appeal on Sunday when the CAI4SR paid an advocacy visit to the Osun Health Insurance Scheme (O’HIS) in Osogbo.
She noted that the non-availability of eye health facilities in the PHCs in Osun State was the real cause of the upsurge in blindness among the people in the state. Ayeni stated that the CAI4SR, with support from Essilor-Vision for Life, would partner with the O’HIS in facilitating accessible eye health facilities for the people of Osun. The Executive Secretary of O’HIS, Dr Adeniyi Samuel Oginni, said the agency was ready to partner with CAI4SR to achieve the objective.
