“I had almost lost hope of seeing clearly again. Today, I had free cataract surgery.” That was how Emeke Odigili acknowledged Sterling Oil Exploration and Energy Production Company, SEEPCO, for their sponsorship of a free eyecare service to communities in Delta State.
The successful surgical operations undertaken in selected communities across nine local governments of Delta States, including Ndokwa East and Ndokwa West, benefited about 113 natives.
The health initiative, being part of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, of the company has become a source of joy to the community dwellers, including High Chief Godwin Ifeanyi Edema, a senior community leader from Utagba-Ogbe Kingdom in the Kwale axis of the state.
SEEPCO undertook the health programme through a Non-Governmental Organisation, the Vcare For Development Foundation, VCDF. The community leader said it was a thing of joy to benefit from the eyecare programme and thanked the organisers for remembering the communities.
Dr. Ernest Ogbedo, an ophthalmologist at VCDF’s SPECS-CSU described cataract as one of the leading causes of avoidable blindness, but was quick to add timely surgery could completely restore vision. According to him, his team had so far conducted 113successful surgeries in Delta State.’
Also speaking, Philip Ukemezia, VCDF’s Programmes Manager said, “today marks a major milestone for VCDF as we restore sight and dignity to residents of nine LGAs of Akwa Ibom and Delta. VCDF has leveraged SEEPCO’s corporate social responsibility efforts to screen 11,858 and over 1,070 successful cataract and pterygium surgeries.
Apart from the surgery on patients with critical sight challenges, training on primary care service delivery was also done to strengthen health workers’ capacity and public health system. Up to 87 health workerswere trained.
The 2024 Nigeria National Eye Health Survey highlights that cataracts cause 44 per cent of blindness cases in Nigeria, where over 1.1 million people live with vision impairment. In Delta State, untreated cataracts affect more than 25,000 residents.
