The Western Region of Ghana is in the South-Western part of the country. The capital of the region in Sekondi-Takoradi. The region enjoys a long coastline from Ghana's border with Côte d'Ivoire to its boundary with the Central Region. Towns such as Axim, Dixcove, Aboadze all lie on the coast and a hilly inland area including Elubo, and Tarkwa. It includes Ghana's southernmost location, Cape Three Points where Oil was discovered in the June 2007. The region has the highest rainfall in Ghana, lush green hills and fertile soils. There are numerous small and large-scale gold mines. The culture is dominated by the Nzema, Wassa, Aowin, Sefwi, Ahanta branches of the Akan culture, and the main languages are Fante, Wassa, Sefwi, Ahanta, Nzema and English. The religions are predominantly Christian and African Traditional Religions. The population of the region is 2,186,539[1], constituting about 10 per cent of the total population of the country. According to national statistics[2], the region is among the least resourced interms of eyecare services and professionals making it a watchpoint for all eyecare interventions as numerous people may suffer from eye conditions which could have been prevented or treated if eyecare services where readily available.
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The Western Region of Ghana contains thirteen districts:
Out of these districts, there are only about four which have decent eye units all in the SAEMA district. They are:
The region has a rich mix of eyecare professionals, though they are few in number. As at 2005, there were five eye care professionals[3] in the region. They were made up of two Ophthalmologists, two Optometrists, Opticians and one Ophthalmic nurse. The diagram below show the various regions of Ghana and the number of health care practitioners as well as the number of cataracts surgeries done. The values relating to the region have been highlighted.
Due to the many activities, including mining, fishing, farming, manufacture, that go on in the region, there are a lot of eye related cases that are always arising. Unfortunately, the region is among the regions with the least eyecare professionals. As of 2009 there was only one ophthalmologist in the region - Dr. Sagoe who worked at the district hospital in SAEMA. A similar story could be told of the number of optometrist in the region. Due to this lack of qualified eye professionals, there are a lot of quacks in the region operating under various names and title. Most districts of the region do not have an eye unit. Currently, there are five permanently based optometrist in the region and four interns. The interns work at the SAEMA district hospital at Takoradi.
Over ninety percent of the eyecare services in the region is handled by optometrist. The proportion of optometrist to patient is about 1:400000, based on the optometrist-Population ratio. However, with most of them in Takoradi their services are only experienced by people living outside the capital mostly through eye screening exercises and outreaches. Yet, the optometrist does well to at all times promote good eyecare education and services especially among community health nurses etc. so that they can spot case that need urgent referral.
Due to the impractical nature of the task with respect to the doctor-patient ratio, General Practitioners of Medicine are force to attend to those presenting with eye condition. Due to the constraint, the 106 doctors in the entire region, 79 of them being in the public sector[4] help in treating conditions such as bacterial infections, allergies etc. as and when they present with them.
Occasionally, groups from outside the region and the nation, in consultation with relevant regional bodies, organise eyecare programmes under specific topics. One of such group is Operation Eyesight Universal. The activity of the group though based outside of the region is worth noting. The group, using Watborg Eye Services Centre as a base and referral centre has been working to strengthen the primary eye care system in the region[5]. This includes working with long-time partner Standard Chartered Bank through its Seeing is Believing program which funds most of the rehabilitation and development of three district hospital satellite eye clinics in the Western Region. With donor support, Operation Eyesight is working to implement a high quality and sustainable eye care program that will improve the output and quality of eye care services for the four million people residing in the region.
Below is the list of eyecare facilities in the region:
The concentration of Optometrist in the regional capital makes the problem more glaring as many people who may need eyecare services many simple not get them.
Due to the high economic activities that go on there is a high incidence of ocular condition such as trauma, agricultural injuries etc., coupled with lack of eyecare education and lack of qualified personnel, many people have their simple treatable ocular conditions degenerate into bad ocular and systemic complication with some leading to blindness. This is a constant source of worry as people who live far from the regional capital mostly just live with these conditions thereby reducing their quality of life.
If the current trend of most eyecare professionals wanting to stay and work only in Accra and Kumasi, then the lack of personnel would continue to be a problem irrespective of how many Optometrist the country produces. As such for the region to begin to take care of its eyecare needs, initiates such as the one fully equipped eye unit in a district hospital ought to be promoted so that eyecare services will be sent to the doorsteps of the people of the region especially to those in the hinterlands.
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