LASUTH, Samsung provide free cataract surgeries to 100 people

The Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) in partnership with Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria, has conducted free cataract operations for 100 people to restore their vision.

The Chief Medical Director of LASUTH, Prof. Adetokunbo Fabamwo, disclosed this during the fifth Vision Eye Camp in Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that a cataract is a clouding of the lens in the eye which leads to a decrease in vision.

Fabamwo said that the free cataract surgery was funded by Samsung and conducted by ophthalmologists from Vision Care, an organisation under the World Health Organisation (WHO).

He said that the institute had continued to achieve landmark feats in medicine due to the support from the Lagos State Government, the private sector and some non-governmental organisations.

“The kind of surgery the Vision Care team did use that particular technique for cataract surgery would have cost nothing less than 35,000 dollars per person.

“The benefit to Lagos State is immense because this means that 100 additional citizens are now seeing and will become more productive in the workforce,” he said.

He commended Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria for its thoughtfulness and humanitarian efforts to restore vision to the vulnerable members of the state.

Fabanwo said that LASUTH had been privileged to have a series of medical missions in the past.

He said that the purpose was to ensure a skill transfer to LASUTH surgeons toward ensuring sustainable healthcare service delivery.

Mr Suh Dongseong, the Chief Executive Officer of Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria, said that the cataract surgery intervention was targeted at the most vulnerable people who could not afford the cost toward eradicating cataracts in Nigeria.

He said that data from the WHO had shown that cataracts account for 51 per cent of the world’s blindness.

He said that this had made the free cataract operation which the company began in 2014 a worthwhile venture.

Dongseong said that medical intervention was part of Samsung’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects in Nigeria.

He stated that it was also part of Samsung’s commitment to the socio-economic development of Nigeria.

Also, Milyung Oh, Volunteer Team Leader, Vision Care, said that the organisation was passionate about collaborating on missions that would restore immediate vision to citizens.