By Abigirl Tembo, Health Editor
THE government has launched the National Eye Health Strategy 2021-2025 which targets to provide accessible, timely and quality eye services to the citizenry.
The strategy’s main objective is to direct the government in eliminating preventable blindness by providing citizens with sustainable eye care services.
While speaking at the launch of the four-year strategy at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals this Thursday, Acting President General Retired Dr Constantino Chiwenga, who is also the Minister of Health and Child Care, reiterated government’s commitment towards the elimination of non-communicable diseases.
“The government, its development partners and the populace must understand that preventing and controlling blindness are not optional actions, but rather essential to ensuring everyone in the nation has access to good health and wellbeing for the sake of the common good in national development.
“The emphasis in this current strategy is five-fold, focusing on, people-centeredness, vision as a human rights issue, integration of primary eye care into primary, secondary and tertiary health care levels, workload indicators for staffing needs and, evidence-based eye health care service provision,” said Dr Chiwenga.
World Health Organisation Country Representative Dr Alex Gasasira applauded the government of Zimbabwe for prioritising the well-being of its people.
“The National Eye Health Strategy for Zimbabwe 2021-2025 which is being launched today, addresses recommendations made to member states on integrated people-centred eye care by a resolution of the World Health Assembly in August 2020. It is most commendable that Zimbabwe has translated commitments made at the global level into concrete action at the country level within a relatively short time. I would like to congratulate the Ministry of Health and Child Care for this laudable achievement,” said Dr Gasasira.
The Acting President also toured the Sekuru Kaguvi Eye Centre where he had a chance to interact with patients who had gone through surgery to remove cataracts during the ongoing eye camp at the hospital.
