As part of the corporate social responsibilities of the management to the public and the activities slated to mark end of the year 2019, the board of management of Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido-Ekiti (FETHI), has embarked on a 2-day free screening exercise to select qualified individuals to benefit in free eye, hernia, hydrocoeles, simple lumps and cleft lip and palate surgeries between December 9 and 13.
The screenings, which were in sections and started on Thursday within the facility, had over 100 people in attendance at Opthalmology department, while roughly 70 were screened under Patients’ Relatives Pavilion for hernia.
According to the Head of Surgery department, Dr Babalola who described the gesture as giving back to the public, said the whole surgical procedures shall be at no cost to the selected beneficiaries.
The Head of Opthalmology department, Dr Tayo Ibrahim informed newsmen that over 100 people have been screened in the first day of the exercise for free cataract extraction surgery.
“This is another opportunity for people in Ekiti State and its environs. As an institution we are doing this to reduce the burden of preventable blindness in our society. This is part of our end of the year activities and it is aimed at giving back to the society. The screening, surgery and drugs after the surgical procedures are all free,” the Opthalmology consultant disclosed.
Explaining the extent at which the hospital had keyed into the President Muhammadu Buhari’s newly launched initiative of offering good sight to those who could not see, the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Prof. Adekunle Ajayi said, “Part of what we do in this hospital is to give back to the communities our expertise. Twice in a week we go to the communities for medical outreaches but we don’t usually include surgery.
“We all know that there are people who possibly will require eye surgical care but cannot afford the cost, especially the indigents. So the management of the hospital has decided to reach out to these individuals in the communities as part of our end of the year activities, believing the intervention will give them hope.”
The free screening exercise was said to continue on Friday, while the series of surgeries were already slated for next week in the newly reconstructed ultramodern theatre named after a world-class renowned late surgeon, Dr Tunde Aladesanmi.