The Osun State Government on Wednesday said it has commenced medical procedures on those pupils in public primary and secondary schools in the state found to have serious eye defects.
This was disclosed on Wednesday by the Executive Secretary, Osun Health Insurance Agency, Rasaq Akindele at the concluding session of the two-day 1st quarter providers forum and training on basic emergency care to OSHIA-accredited providers held in Osogbo, Osun State.
The PUNCH had previously reported that 345,000 public primary and secondary school pupils were screened for eye-related challenges under the state-funded initiative called Imole School Eye Health Programme, with over 42,000 of them getting free treatment including medication for their different sight challenges, while others get free glasses. But giving an update during an interview on the sidelines of the providers' forum, Akindele, whose agency is handling the project for the state government, said medical procedures had commenced on the critical cases identified among the pupils, adding that the surgeries were being done in batches.
"Some of the pupils were not performing well because of the visual challenges they had. So, we got the approval of the governor to screen all the students in public primary and secondary schools. We screened over 345,000 students, and we discovered that about 45,000 of them had eye challenges. 42,000 of them have refractive errors, which were corrected by giving corrective glasses. Some of them get drugs that will make their vision. We have started those who needed surgery in series, and we have not concluded.
When we conclude, we will let the people know the outcome. The governor has also promised that we are going to extend the gesture to the private schools so that they can also benefit, Akindele said. He further said teachers in public schools would also be screened, having discovered that some of them also have visual impairment during the screening of the pupils.
Speaking at the training, the OSHIA boss said the platform has made it possible for healthcare providers partnering with the government on the health insurance scheme to bring forward their complaints with a view to getting them addressed by the appropriate authority. He also said the training had provided an avenue for the government to look into the level of compliance with conditions of engagement it set for the healthcare providers and check if the terms were being complied with.
The last time we had a forum like this, we saw the impact on the field. Enrolees expressed satisfaction with what they got when they went to the hospitals. So, we are expecting a better impact this time around, he said.
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