RIVCHPP Pledges Readiness To Partner FMOH And RSPHCMB In Expanding Opthalmic Care To Rivers Residents

Rivers State Contributory Health Protection Programme ( RIVCHPP) has expressed its readiness to partner the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the Rivers State Primary Health Care Management Board ( RSPHCMB) in seeing to Rivers residents, especially those in rural communities, have access to eye care services .

The Executive Secretary of RIVCHPP, Dr. Vetty Agala expressed the readiness of the agency in her office on Wednesday, 23rd September, 2023, when a team from Rivers State Primary Health Care Management Board led members of National Eye, Ear, and Sensory Functions Health Programme ( NESHP) of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare on an advocacy visit to RIVCHPP.

Dr. Agala , who commended the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare for coming up with the initiative of giving out free eye glasses to Nigerians who are 40 years and above with challenges that need eye glasses, saying that the provision of opthalmic services in 70 Primary Health Care centres across the state is a welcome development.

The Executive Secretary of RIVCHPP stated that some rural beneficiaries of its programmes always find it difficult travelling to the urban centres for their eye care needs, saying that the training of healthcare personnel to cater to the eye care needs in the Primary Health centres will greatly improve the eye health of the people.

Dr. Agala also promised that the agency would send its officials to participate in the proposed health outreaches to enrol residents into its programmes.

Earlier of the lead of the visitors, Dr. Tonye Lawson-Jack, who is the Director of Medical Services of RSPHCMB, said that the team is in RIVCHPP to intimate the Executive Secretary of an ongoing training at the board towards providing primary opthalmic care in 70 selected primary health centres across the state.

Dr. Lawson-Jack said the visit was to make the agency aware of the available opthalmic services and so as to leverage on the opportunity to see that its beneficiaries wirh primary eye care cases are taken care of in the designated health centres.

Others in the team, including the NESPH team lead, Adedoyin Haastrup, talked about the ongoing opthalmic training in Rivers State, simultaneously holding in the 3 Senatorial Districts, the Presidential initiative of free eye glasses, and the various outreach programmes to engender more awareness in the state.