Chapter of Month – VOSH-Ghana
Flying off to a great start as the 81st VOSH chapter worldwide, our first Chapter of the Month for 2017 is VOSH-Ghana. VOSH-Ghana became a full fledged VOSH chapter in 2016 and has been extraordinarily active. Membership includes 10 certified doctors of optometry, and 3 others in diverse fields with technical support from final year students of the KNUST school of optometry.
Here’s a great opportunity to work with an active chapter in Ghana who welcomes and will host VOSH chapters on a mission to Ghana.
The Republic of Ghana along the Atlantic Ocean, is a territory inhabited for millenia. Present day Ghana is a multicultural nation, with a population of approximately 27 million, spanning a variety of ethnic, linguistic and religious groups.
Here’s the latest report from VOSH-Ghana:
With financial support from rotary club of Accra west, we have successfully organised two outreach missions in two regions in Ghana. A total of 419 people have had access to free eye care with 131 free eye glasses and 266 free medication. A total of 196 have been referred to various hospitals for further management. 87 of the people referred had cataract and 45 of them had refractive error
Vital eye care education provided included, printouts of informative eye health messages, information on common eye conditions, signs and symptoms of vision threatening conditions, first aid care, and common myths about the eye. We emphasize on the need for frequent eye check ups and medication compliance.
VOSH-Ghana Chapter President Abena Adjei Ntim, OD, MSC outlined an active and expanded future for the chapter. “We look forward to organising missions three times in a year so as to be able to reach out to more people. This involves inclusion of surgical sessions in our missions especially for people with cataracts. People with refractive errors will also be given spectacles as well. We are fulfilling our humanitarian obligations by reaching out to the less privileged, and giving clinical exposure for the final year optometry students who provide technical support. We are very interested in hosting any chapter that will work with us.”
CONGRATULATIONS TO VOSH-GHANA, CHAPTER OF THE MONTH.
If you would like your chapter to be selected as a VOSH Chapter of the Month, please write a summary of your service within the past year (200 words or less) and send three pictures of your chapter’s activities by email to chapterofthemonth@vosh.org.
