Region Two residents to benefit from eye care services, prosthesis, hearing aids

To unburden the problems faced by some residents in Region Two, due to the lack of eye care services, prosthesis and hearing aids, the Ministry of Health will be making these services accessible in the region by the end of this year.

Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony, M.P, during a recent visit to the region, listened to concerns raised by healthcare workers. One of those was the need for an ophthalmology department.

To this end, the minister said his ministry will work towards getting an eye surgeon or eye specialist to conduct surgeries and provide eye care services there. He said in the meantime, patients can have access to services at the National Ophthalmology Hospital, in Berbice or at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC).

“We have a hospital up at Port Mourant that deals specifically with ophthalmology [and] that was down for a while, everything was broken up. Last year we spent more than I would say $150 million buying equipment just to re-equip the place… so while we work to maybe get you somebody to come here, if they are patients that you have some of those people can come up to Berbice or we can get them sorted at Georgetown Hospital,” Minister Anthony said.

He told the healthcare workers to identify and provide a list of persons needing eye surgery so that the ministry can make arrangements for them to get their surgeries done.

Dr. Anthony added that eye testing kits will also be rolled out especially in rural areas where persons are unable to access these services.

Meanwhile, in terms of prosthesis and hearing aids, Dr. Anthony said the Government is working towards making these services less costly and ensuring persons live a better life.

“We are planning, at the government level, we are going to try to do more prosthesis, help more people so that they can become mobile. Similarly, you might have a lot of people here that would need hearing aid…this year we are buying, so again you have patients, let us know and we’ll be able to help some of them,” the Health Minister noted.