By Shina Abubakar, Osogbo

In a bid to address the rising cases of avoidable blindness and eye complications at the grassroots, the Lion Clubs International Foundation, LCIF, has extended its medical outreach to no fewer than 500 residents of Ayedire Local Government Area of Osun State.

The outreach which was organised by LCIF through its Lion Eye Care Development Project, Osun State, provided free eye screening, treatment, and distribution of corrective lenses.

Speaking at the event held on Thursday at the Ile-Ogbo town hall, the outreach officer in the State, Olufunmike Odesanmi, stressed the need for accessible healthcare at the grassroots, saying many people resort to self-medication and patronising unregulated medicine vendors when faced with eye issues, which often worsen their conditions.

She noted that the Lions Club decided to bring the free eye care services directly to the communities to curb the rising trend of untreated eye conditions caused by poor access to medical services.

“Many people in the grassroots are unable to access healthcare and when they have eye problems, they do self-medication and even patronise over-the-counter shops which most times complicate their issues.

“We decided to take the free eyecare programme to them to afford them opportunity to quality eye care services and avoid further complications of their condition.

“We have been to over twenty Osun communities and we attend to an average of 300 people per these communities, so I can say that over 6,000 have benefited. For this Ile-Ogbo outreach, we have already attended to 323 people and by the end of the day, we will reach over 500 people.”

Meanwhile, one of the youth leaders of Ile-Ogbo United Forum, Aderonke Ojo, lauded the initiative, stressing that it has given avenue to residents at the grassroots access to free eye care.