The wife of the Governor State of Osun, Mrs Kafayat Oyetola, has provided free eye care for no fewer than five hundred residents of the state in commemoration of this year’s World Sight Day.
The program was put in place by Mrs Oyetola’s NGO, IleriOluwa Development Initiatives, in collaboration with the Nigerian Optometric Association.
Speaking during the program which held in her Okefia Government House Office Osogbo, the Osun state capital, Mrs Oyetola said the free eye care treatment was one out of many other programs by the IleriOluwa Development Initiatives to enhance the living condition of the people especially women, children and the vulnerable in the state.
Mrs Oyetola emphasized during the medical outreach ;
“IleriOluwa Development Initiative has organized this medical intervention as part of our commitment to enhancing the living condition of our people in this state. We have decided to synchronize this intervention with the period of the 2021 World Sight Day.
“Additionally, we shall be having a consultative engagement with a group of eye experts, mark the day. The objective is to beam intensive awareness light on the importance of our eyes and their care to the overall health.
“Vision health is a crucial aspect of health. It is significant to the effective engagement in day to day living. As we grow or age, certain eye conditions are bound to emerge which would demand medical or clinical attention. Lack of this attention or care could lead to reduced eyesight or total loss of vision.
“One cannot ignore the fact that even while people in our communities suffer some of these conditions, they may be unable to see the appropriate care largely because of the low level of income available to them,” Mrs Oyetola stated.
The President,I.O.D further disclosed that the health intervention would be carried out from time to time by the IleriOluwa Development Initiatives.
While advising the beneficiaries to make regular treatment of their eyes and other parts of the body a priority ,she also implored them to give serious attention to their entire body structure, maintaining that health is wealth.
Speaking, the Osun State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Rafiu Isamotu, who lauded the First Lady for her humanitarian gestures charged parents and guardians to give their children diets that contain vitamin A to enhance proper and efficient functioning of their sight at all times.
A member of the Nigerian Optometric Association, Dr Olaniyi Ogunbiyi, disclosed that about one billion people are suffering from one eye defect or the other worldwide.
Other highlights of the programme were health talk , situation assessment of the eye, and issuance of optical kits among others.
