An estimated 20,000 people within the six political districts in the Sefwi enclave of the Western Region are undergoing free eye screening exercise as and surgeries.

The nine-day event dubbed Avoidable Blindness Elimination Project which is being carried out by a team of ophthalmologist from the Friends Eye Center is the brain child of Kog Kriationz Network, an Accra based Non-Governmental Organization (N.G.O) and the people will benefit from Avoidable Blindness Awareness Education, Screening, Eye Drops, Glasses and Surgery all at no cost.

Speaking at a short ceremony at Sefwi Wiaso to launch the programme, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Kog Kriationz Network, Mr. Eric Owusu Gyimah revealed some alarming figures which point to the fact that one person goes blind globally at every second of which four (4) out of five (5) or eighty percent (80%) of these blindness could be prevented if proper measures and regular checks on the eye were followed.

He, therefore, admonished the people to adhere to routine screening of the eye to avoid preventable blindness since the eye is a very important organ of the body and serves as the window of the entire human body.

The Kog Kriationz Network CEO further thanked Oheneba Kasempa Enterprise, Eye Foundation of America, Friends Eye Centre, Nicholas Aackaah Foundation, Sefwi Traditional Area for their collaboration.

On his part, the Omanhene of the Wiaso Sefwi Traditional Area, Katakyie Kwasi Bumagama II described the project as first of its kind and unprecedented in his area and lauded the NGO for the initiative.

He pledged his fullest support for the project and called on individuals and corporate entities to support a worthy course such as these as he also stressed the need for regular checks on the eye.