Specialists ask government to invest more in eye care services

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Medical personnel with a speciality in providing eye care services have appealed to the government to invest more in eye care services in the country.

Dr Moses Kasadhakawo, a senior consultant ophthalmologist at Mulago National Referral Hospital said that the entire country has only 40 ophthalmologists, and few ophthalmic clinical officers, who are not appointed or promoted over several years. He adds that many of them end up working as general doctors, which affects their career growth.

He said the country also lacks a training school for ophthalmic nurses, who could have provided support to the few specialists, and that personnel in charge of collecting data on eye care problems are not trained on the conditions required in eye care. He is equally concerned that eye care services have been largely left to donors, a trend which creates sustainability issues when donor support ceases.

The matters came up as Uganda commemorated World Sight Day in Kitgum municipality on Thursday. The International day is held annually on the second Thursday of October as an opportunity to focus the world’s attention on the importance of eye health for everyone, everywhere.

Dr Kasadhakawo said the eye care equipment is expensive in terms of acquisition and maintenance, because they don’t have spare parts within the country or trained personnel to repair them, while the National Medical Stores does not provide supplies for eye care.

Joyce Ajwang, the regional chairperson of ophthalmic clinical officers in Acholi and Lango sub-regions said the ophthalmic clinical officers in the health centres lack facilitation for outreaches and drugs for diagnosing some eye problems. She appealed to the government to create positions for clinical ophthalmic officers at the district level, and pay them according to their qualification.

The Minister of Health, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng, whose speech was read by Dr Charles Olaro, the Director of Curative Services in the Ministry of Health, acknowledged the shortage of eye care specialists in the country and observed a need for the training of personnel in the discipline which is currently offered only at Makerere and Mbarara Universities.

Dr Aceng also advised people with eye problems to seek help from trained medical personnel and avoid using herbs. “If you are sick, don’t go to a traditional healer or use traditional medicine, because sometimes if they give you the wrong prescription, the problem will become worse.”

Dr Olaro said Kitgum was chosen to host World Sight Day because of the unclear data presented by the district, which implied that the district did not need eye care services. However, Dr Henry Okello Otto, the Kitgum District Health Officer noted that the district handled 17,307 different cases of eye problems in the last two financial years.

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