Malawi: Operation Eyesight has announced that it is working on equipping the eye laboratory at Chitipa District Hospital with resources. The operation wants to enable the labs to be able to assemble eye glasses and made in the district.
Prior to this initiative, the district did not have a place to manufacture and assemble eye glasses. This is posing a major issue for the people of the district administration they have to travel to different regions to get eye glasses.
In absence of this service, the people with presentable eye diseases are unable to get proper treatment. As such, the operation eyesight has emerged as a welcome new development.
Country Director for Operation Eyesight, Kennedy Phiri, announced the project on Friday. He was present during the handover ceremony of the eye clinic in the district. The eye clinic in the district has been constructed and will be equipped with K54 million by Operation Eyesight.
Phiri said the project was aimed towards preventing avoidable blindness by getting crucial services available to the people.
“The idea is to build regional hubs in a few districts in the northern region including Chitipa, so that people do not travel too far to get eye glasses and receive crucial eye treatment. This eye clinic is the beginning of the plan,” Phiri explained.
He then revealed the plan to extend the implementation of the project in health facilities within the district.
“The next expansion stage is to equip health centres in rural areas with facilities and train their staff so that we make the services closer to people in particular areas,” he said.
Councillor Ronald Kaira, the Chairperson for the Chitipa District Council applauded Operation Eyesight for their support. He believes that the project would help to deal with the serious eye problem in the district.
“This facility will be very important because by moving the eye department from the mother hospital it will improve the attention to the eye cases in the district since the hospital receives approximately 60 cases of eye problems per day,” Kaira said.
Sub Traditional Authority Mkombanyama assured the organization that the communities will take good care of the facility.
“We will make by-laws and sensitize people in the communities on taking care of this facility so that we use it for a very long period of time,” he said.