Charikpong, (UWR), Feb. 21, GNA – More than 500 school children in Charikpong and its surrounding villages in the Nadowli-Kaleo District have been screened for eye diseases such as river blindness, cataracts, and eye injuries.
The Charikpong community is located near the Black Volta river which harbours the blackfly which bites of people leads to transmission of river blindness to them, hence the screening to help identify eye diseases among children in the area.
Mr Anthony Sumah Mwinkaara, the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Nadowli-Kaleo District, organised the exercise due to the emergence of the blackfly in the area.
A spokesman for the Member of Parliament, Mr Sylvester Biekpe, said the MP was collaborating with the Ministry of Health, the Ghana Education Service and the Bliss Eye Care, a private eye specialised health institution to screen the pupils and other children in the communities to identify eyes diseases for early medical attention.
He said he was disappointed at the turnout and the behaviour of some parents who led their children to the screening grounds and left them alone to go through the exercise while other parents also asked their wards to come for the screening alone.
Mr Biekpe, urged parents to be more responsible and to take interest in the health and educational needs of their children.
He said it was the intention of the MP to provide comprehensive health care for the people through screening for hepatitis, high blood pressure (BP) and diabetes among others, and urged them to patronise such exercises to know of their health status.
Mr Christopher Kutina, the Nadowli-Kaleo District Director of Education, urged teachers in the area to try and identify children in their classes who have eye problems and report them to the school authorities to seek early medical attention for them.
Dr Zakarea Al-hasan Balure, an Optometrist at Bliss Eye Care, advised the people to take good care of their eyes by avoiding self-medication, patronising traditional medicines but must always seek medical care at health facilities.
He said eyes were not replaceable and urged the people to follow simple instructions provided for them, especially like the thorough washing of face among others.
He said refractive errors, allergic conjunctivitis and infective conjunctivitis were some of the cases identified among the children and medications were provided for treatment.