The Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, in collaboration with Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria has performed free cataract surgery for 100 people.
The Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Prof Adetokunbo Fabamwo, said this during its fifth Vision Eye Camp held in Lagos.
He said the free cataract surgery was funded by Samsung and conducted by ophthalmologists from Vision Care, an organisation under the World Health Organisation.
The LASUTH CMD added that the hospital had continued to achieve remarkable feats in the field of medicine due to the support from the Lagos State Government, the private sector and some non-governmental organisations.
“The surgery will be of immense benefit to the state. It means that 100 additional citizens will regain their sight and become more productive. The surgery would have cost about $35,000 per person,” Fabamwo said.
The Chief Executive Officer of Samsung Heavy Industries Nigeria, Mr Suh Dongseong, said the cataract surgery intervention was targeted at vulnerable people who could not afford the cost of the operation.
Dongseong lamented that cataracts accounted for 51 per cent of the world’s population of visually challenged, according to data from the World Health Organisation. He added that this had made the free cataract surgery which the company began in 2014 a worthwhile venture.
