STANDCHART BANK SETS UP EYE CENTRE IN TWIN CITY (PAGE 23, JULY 15, 2010)

The Standard Chartered Bank, under its Seeing Is Believing Project, has handed over a well-equipped Eye Care Centre costing more than $150,000 to the Takoradi Hospital in the Sekondi/Takoradi metropolis.
The bank is also in the process of helping to improve eye care services in the Bibiani, Sefwi and Tarkwa government hospitals, which are also in the region.
The Seeing is Believing Project, which is said to be the bank’s global initiative, aims at helping people to prevent blindness and it is expected that more than 300,000 people across the region will benefit from the facility.
The Head of Corporate Affairs in Charge of West Africa, Nii Okai Nunoo, said the eyes were very important to man, therefore, the bank, in collaboration with Operation Eye Sight Universal would ensure that people with curable blindness were saved.
He said it was important to note that every five seconds, someone somewhere in the world goes blind. There are about 45 million blind people across the world, therefore, without effective intervention, the figure could rise to 76 million people by 2020.
More than 90 per cent of the estimated figure, he said, could be found in the developing world and deprived urban areas. Therefore, the issue was health-related and affects the livelihood of individuals and the economic well-being of communities.
Mr Nunoo said it was also gratifying to note from the records that, about 80 per cent of blindness could be prevented or treated. It was, therefore, in line with the focus of the Stanchart and its partners to ensure the situation was dealt with.
He said apart from the inauguration of the facility, the bank donated eye equipment and a motorbike to enhance the operations of the centre.
The head of corporate affairs said the bank recognised the importance of health to the socio-economic development of every country and that the bank, knowing the importance of sight would do everything to ensure that people with curable eye problems were helped to regain their sight.
Besides the facility in the metropolis and other parts of the Western Region, Mr Nunoo said there were also other projects costing about $500,000 slated for the Eastern Region and other parts of the country.
For her part, the Western Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Linda Vanotoo, commended the bank for the support and stressed the need for people to take good care of their eyes since these serve as the window to the world.
She said eye care services in the region were available in about eight out of the 17 districts.
The Deputy Western Regional Minister, Ms Betty Bosumtwi Sam, who inaugurated the project, commended Stanchart and called on other corporate bodies to support the project to ensure good health care delivery.