One of the equipment in use
Latter Day Saints (LDS) Humanitarian Services, the welfare services department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, has donated eye equipment to St Thomas Eye Hospital at Mataheko in Accra.
The gesture is part of the church’s social responsibility to support society and also responding to a request by the hospital.
Among items donated were optical coherence tomography, a retinal camera with FFA and FAF capabilities and ultrasound scan that is crucial in diagnosing retinal detachments.
The St Thomas Eye Hospital is a specialist eye clinic providing advanced surgical services in retinal detachment, laser surgeries, cataract, glaucoma and other ailments.
It also has a community outreach programme that provides free medical screening and surgeries to people living in extreme poverty.
Beginning in 2010, the hospital has been providing between 800 and 1,000 free cataract and pterygium surgeries each year.
“In February this year, together with our visiting friends from the US, we provided free retinal detachment surgeries to more than 30 patients who otherwise would have stayed blind. In recognition of these long-term social responsibilities, the humanitarian charities of the Latter Day Saints made equipment donation to support the hospital’s activities,” they stated.
The hospital’s management said it would make the equipment available to other eye care professionals because that would impact positively on their standard of care.