Opticians cast eye on Ghana

Staff from Specsavers in the Iddlewells Shopping Centre have improved eye care in the Ashanti region of Ghana.

Nigel Davidson, store director, Sam Best, assistant store manager and Stuart Green, optometrist, formed part of a seven-strong team to visit Gyetiaise in rural Ghana to help improve eye care with charity Ashanti Development.

The team ran eye care clinics starting at 8am everyday and would often open up to find 200 people already queuing for a sight test.

Mr Davidson, store director, said: ‘We received lots of help in preparation for the trip. Specsavers colleagues collected thousands of second-hand specs to take with us, they also donated money from sight test fees, fund raising days and events.

“Their efforts and donations from other local businesses helped to raise enough funds to buy vital equipment for the clinic, including a tonometer which measures pressure inside the eye.”

During the trip, they referred around 50 people for cataract surgery.

Mr Davidson added: “The optometrists diagnosed a wide range of conditions such as glaucoma, trachoma and cataracts. We helped so many people whose vision was only good enough to see hand movements from no more than a metre away.”