Indigent Patients Get Free Eye Surgery In Ebonyi

A non-governmental organisation, Pleroma Foundation (PF) has carried out free eye surgery for over 150 indigent patients and tooth extraction for over 200 others its medical outreach in Ihie Autonomous Community, Ishiagu, Ebonyi State.

The foundation also distributed over 1,500 reading and correctional eye glasses to patients and carried out medical examination on women, children and the elderly. It equally administered drugs on patients and made referrals to partnering hospitals which include Ishiagu General Hospital, University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, (UNTH), Enugu and Alex Ekwueme Federal Teaching Hospitals, Abakaliki.

The chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT) of the foundation, Dr Chinedu Okoro, who made the disclosure at the outreach, said the foundation which commenced the exercise in 2021 have attended to the health needs of thousands of indigent people in Ivo council, some parts of Enugu and Abia States in the last four years.

Okoro said the outreach was part of the foundation’s commitment to giving back to the society, adding that their late mother,  Mrs Nkechi Okoro, was the vision bearer of the foundation.

“Our late mother, Mrs Nkechi Okoro is the vision bearer of this foundation. It is her brainchild because of her passion for the indigent children, women and the elderly. Before she passed on in 2022, having witnessed the first outreach and contributed to its funding and success, she mandated us to ensure that we sustain the outreach and we are simply fulfilling her last wish.

“Before she passed on, she showed compassion, care and love for the indigent people in our communities and contributed greatly in giving succour to those that came across her. So to ensure we continue to fulfill her last wish, in 2021 and since then, we have sustained it,” she said.

Okoro stated that each time the free medical outreach is carried out, drugs worth millions are brought in which are distributed to the patients. “We bring in drugs, not just any drug but drugs that anyone can attest to. We bring in ophthalmologist who carry out eye surgeries on patients, we also bring in dentist that also carry out tooth extractions and other medical doctors that also carry out examination on the patients.”

He maintained that there are plans to expand its reach to the people as the name implies, reaching the unreached, we will be willing to partner with various organizations, the community town union and the State Government to ensure we have a wider outreach and attend to many more Indigent people.

Dr. Okoro commended the state governor, Francis Nwifuru for creating an enabling environment for the foundation to carry out the outreach adding that the administration has made security its priority which prompted people to return home from their different locations back to the state safely.

A member of the Board of Trustees who is also a Neuro surgeon, based in the United Arab Emirate, UAE, Dr. Emmanuel Okoro said that the foundation carried out a demographic study and discovered that most of the indigent people present cases of hypertension and diabetes adding that most of them do not have access to quality medical care because of economic hardship.