Doctors under the auspices of the Nigerian Optometric Association (NOA) have advised the government at all levels to extend quality health care, especially eye care to inmates across correctional centres in the country.
The chairman of NOA in Ekiti state, Dr Faith Omotayo gave the advice while speaking during the association’s visit to the Nigerian Correctional Centres in Ado-Ekiti in commemoration of the 2019 World Sight day.
Free eye surgery, eyeglasses, toothpaste, toiletries and other materials were given to the inmates.
She lamented that many inmates after serving their jail term and released to the society faced challenges in their eyes which she attributed to inadequate medical attention while in prison.
Omatayo revealed that every second Thursday of October every year was set aside to celebrate world sight day, adding that the association decided to visit the correctional centre in their bid to ensure inmates we’re exposed to the best eye care.
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She said, ” It is our way of reaching out to those who don’t have access to eye care treatment. This year, we decided to select prisoners because most times, these inmates don’t have good health care, especially eye care.
“We are distributing free eyeglasses, eye drops, toothpaste and health needs of the prisoners.
“These people at the correctional centre are humans and they needed to be taken care of, health-wise. The rate of blindness is getting higher all over the world. You can imagine over 300 million people are blind across the world.
” Government and other organizations in the society should extend health care especially eye care to inmates because regardless of the situation, they are still part of us.
Responding, the Public Relations Officer of the Correctional Centre in the state, Mr Babalola Foluso commended the doctors for the gesture, urging them to continue to remember the inmates in their programmes.
“It is a good development and we want to thank them for the good gesture.
“It will go along way to encourage the inmates and we want them to continue to do more to the inmates,” he said.
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