400 eye patients ‘see’ after meeting flying doctors
MORE than 400 patients with various eye problems, among them cataract, allergic conjunctivitis and trachoma have been attended to by the Zambia Flying Doctors Service (ZFDS) in the ongoing Mbala outreach programme which started last Tuesday.
The outreach has so far given out 116 glasses out of the 120 glasses during its outreach programme which has continued to gain and hold the confidence of the rural population in the district.
ZFDS Mbala outreach Team leader Samuel Sianga said the eye department had so far seen 423 patients and was expecting the number to increase by the time the outreach was concluded.
Dr Sianga said in an interview at Zombe Rural Health Centre yesterday that trachoma was due to poor hygiene hence the need for people to observe hygiene. He said there was need to send specialists to the area and assess the situation before taking appropriate preventable measures to address the increasing cases of cataract, conjunctivitis and trachoma in the area.
"From the time we came for the outreach in Mbala, we have been to four health centres, namely Tulemane, Kaka, Kawimbe and Masamba. Today, we are here at Zombe Rural Health Centre which is our fifth health centre.
In the last four health centres, we have attended to 423 and if our experience in the last four operations in the health facilities is anything to go by, then, we are likely to record more cases of eye problems.
And Ms Mable Nanyangwe said she was grateful that the ZFDS had travelled to Mbala to provide health care to people in the rural remote areas where people were facing various health challenges.
She urged the government to ensure that the ZFDS was supported to enable it carry out its duties of providing health services in remote areas.
"It is the first time that we have the ZFDS coming to this place, I mean here in Zombe area hence I’m urging the government to continue supporting this noble cause of the ZFDS" Ms Nanyangwe said.