Joseph Eshanokpe
NO fewer than 3,000 people are expected to benefit from the ongoing free eye screening for cataract, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Lagos Palmgrove Estate.
Also supporting it are the Rotary Club of Singapore, its Charlotee Hall counterpart and the District 9110. The Indian Cultural Association and Parlie sponsored the one-month camp, which started last Saturday. It will end on March 15.
Past President Rotary Club of Lagos Palmgrove Estate Mukesh Bhatt said that the screening was free, adding that it was under the banner of its Mission for Region campaign.
‘’This is a yearly exercise and we have been doing it in the past 15 years. So far, we have done on the average 2,500 yearly. It is a community service. After the screening, if the patient is discovered to have need for surgery, he will be recommended for it free,’’ he said.
Bhatt advised Nigerians to take eye care seriously by doing a test at least once in a year. He said it is easier to deal with eye issues at the initial stage when they are not complicated.
The club’s President, Jaya Shankar Nalode, who described the response on the first day as encouraging, said that the club would pay for the surgery at a cost of about N35,000, noting: “This is cheaper compared to the amount charged in other hospitals.
‘We are doing our best to help the people and the government. The government cannot provide health care alone. It needs support.” He said by next May, the club in partnership with an organisation would open the Indo Eyecare Foundation in Lagos.
He thanked members of the club, organisations and individuals who assisted to make the screening a success.
A beneficiary, Abiodun Ikotun, an auto dealer, praised Rotary for the gesture, saying he had not got such an opportunity before.
Ikotun, who was directed to the event by a friend, who is a Rotarian, said: ‘’I didn’t pay anything.’’
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