Yobe Govt, Qatar Foundation Begin Free Eye Care

Yobe State government, in partnership with the Qatar Charity Foundation, has flagged off a comprehensive free eye care programme to improve the quality of life for the people.

The ceremony took place at the Yobe State Specialist Hospital in Damaturu and will run for five days.

At the event, Governor Mai Mala Buni, represented by his deputy, Alhaji Idi Barde Gubana, described it as a major milestone in the partnership between the state and the Qatar Foundation, and emphasised that vision is one of the precious gifts from Almighty Allah to all human beings.

According to him, those suffering from visual impairments and the inability to see are not just a health challenge; it is a barrier to earning a livelihood, getting an education and maintaining personal dignity.

“This programme will provide free eye care consultations; patients will receive free cataract surgeries, and after screening and surgery, patients will also receive free medications and prescription glasses, including frames, lenses, and reading spectacles, completely free”, he noted.

Buni reiterated his administration’s commitment to ensuring that every citizen has access to quality healthcare, including past interventions such as free dialysis, free maternal and child health services, and the construction or renovation of primary health clinics in all 178 wards of the state.

The governor, therefore, called on the beneficiaries to fully cooperate with the medical team. He urged local healthcare professionals to work closely with the visiting medical teams to learn and build capacity for the future.

In a remark, the country director, Qatar Foundation Nigeria, Mr Assen Abu Al-Ashaeer, assured that the foundation would continue to ensure better coordination with the Yobe State Government to expand project reach for the good of the people of Yobe State and Nigeria.

Also speaking, the Commissioner of Health and Human Services, Dr Mohammed Lawan Gana, explained that the beneficiaries were parents, farmers, traders, artisans, teachers and elderly parents, adding that their lives would be transformed through the restoration of sight.

Some beneficiaries who spoke to LEADERSHIP News, Laraba Hassan and Baba Zarami, commended the state Government and Qatar Foundation for the kind gesture.