By Haruna Salami
A public hearing by the Senate Committee on Health on a bill seeking to establish the Federal Eye Centre, Ochadamu in Ofu Local Government Area of State has received overwhelming support from stakeholders in the health sector.
The bill which sponsored by Senator Jibrin Isah (Kogi East) and passed second reading on 1st July, 2021 was subsequently referred to the Senate Committee on Health for public hearing.
Addressing the stakeholders at a well attended public hearing, Senator Jibrin said the Eye Centre is strategically located in the heart of nine Local Government Areas in the Eastern Senatorial flank of the State with over two million population, adding that if it becomes operational on the status of government ownership, it would not only serve Kogi states, but ten other adjoining states.
The hospital which currently operates as Holley Memorial Hospital, Ochadamu is a missionary hospital that was established in 1948.
The lawmaker noted that the Federal Eye Centre as proposed would take over the staff, other assets and liabilities of the Holley Memorial Hospital Ochadamu, to render services of the prevention and cure of eye defects and diseases.
In that regard, he said, government will put the governing board in place and set up the academic committee to supervise the academic affairs of the Centre, stressing that the existing infrastructure would only need upgrade and fresh installation of non-existent medical equipment.
“The Holley Memorial Hospital, Ochadamu, which is a missionary hospital, was founded in 1948 in response to the needs of those suffering from leprosy”, he said.
“Subsequently, eye care became an integral part of the Hospital due to the prevalence of eye diseases and related complications in the area. The eye care that was introduced into the programme of the hospital is the major eye centre in Kogi East, rendering services to patients within the state and neighbouring states”.
The lawmaker lamented the inadequate equipment, epileptic power supply and manpower to cater for ever-increasing patients, believing that when government takes over, the challenges would abate.
“The hospital is faced with a myriad of challenges such as shortage of ward accommodation, insufficient clinical area, under-equipped theatre, and power challenges, underscoring the need for a standby 100K VA generator and a 500K VA electric transformer to be connected to national grid.
“The centrality of the proposed Centre to the overall health of the citizens is underscored by a recent study on visual challenges in Kogi state, which found that 128,000 citizens have severe visual disorders, and about 8,500 are blind.”
“The study found cataract as the commonest cause of severe visual impairment and blindness, being responsible for about 45.3% and 43.0°o respectively.
“Furthermore, glaucoma, which is an optic neuropathy that presents with a characteristic optic disc damage and visual field defect, with intraocular pressure as one of the modifiable risk factor, has led to several cases of irreversible blindness in the senatorial district.
“This is in addition to other conditions, such as corneal scarring and uncorrected refractive errors found to be among the major causes of blindness and visual impairment in the senatorial district”.
Speaking in favour of the proposed establishment of the Eye Centre, Minister of State for Health, Senator Olorunnibe Mamora said, it will serve justice and equity, but lamented funding challenges.
Also, Senator Smart Adeyemi representing Kogi West Senatorial District told the stakeholders that the state has enough manpower to cope with establishment of the Eye Centre, adding that “government takeover was long over due”.
His Royal Highness, the Eje of Ofu, Alhaji Akwu Obaje, commended Senator Isah for his foresight, saying that as at the age of 60 years, he grew up to meet the hospital as a leprosy centre in those days.
Chairman of Senate Committee on Health, Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe after lamenting government’s under funding of health institutions, advised government to give priority to health and education for rapid development of the country.
