A Newly refurbished Eye Clinic Centre of Excellence has been opened at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH)with Government pledging to transform UTH into a superior referral institution offering superb health services.
The K2.8 billion phase one rehabilitation project of the centre was done by Nava Bhata Ventures limited of India. During phase II of the project, K15.5 billion would be spent.
Speaking in Lusaka yesterday at the official opening of the centre, Health Minister Joseph Kasonde thanked the cooperating partners, Operation Eyesight Universal (OEU) for donation of the centre.
The Ministry of Health and OEU recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to share costs at 50 per cent each for upgrading the centre under the phase II project.
“We have waited for the UTH Eye Centre of Excellence for more than eight years now, and it is very gratifying that it has now come to fruition,” Dr Kasonde said.
Once completed after phase II, the centre which used to be the UTH recreation facility, would have capacity of 80 beds, wards, offices, lecture theatres, a kitchen, library and computer rooms.
The centre was opened to coincide with this year’s commemoration of World Sight Day held under the theme ‘Elimination of Trachoma, a cause of preventable blindness in Zambia.’
“This certainly is a good way of commemorating the World Sight Day which falls today by us receiving this donation of the UTH Eye Centre of Excellence,” Dr Kasonde said.
He said Zambia was a signatory to the Global Elimination of Trachoma (GET) by the year 2020 and the Vision 2020 The Right to Sight, a global initiative aimed at eliminating blindness by year 2020.
He said the centre which was furnished with modern equipmentwould help Zambia deliver best services aimed at achieving goals of the GET 2020 and Vision 2020.
The vision had four core strategies which included disease control, human resource development, infrastructure and appropriate technology and resource mobilisation.
Earlier, OEU representative Delphin Kinkese who read the speech on behalf of the institution’s acting president Brian Foster said about 13 million people globally were blind when 80 per cent of such cases could be treated.
He said OEU decided to partner with Government to focus on delivery of quality eye operations and that the successful completion of the project would assist many people to access treatment services.
Giving a vote of thanks, UTH head of Eye Clinic Grace Mutati said the centre was significant to providing better treatment services to citizens and assured that UTH management would take good care of the new facility.
That is wonderful
Good guys. This is what we need in Zambia. Let us have all necessary medical facilities for all ailments. PF guys continue working for Zambia. Don’t work for your pockets like what the MMD did. Good indeed.
I thought I read that this started 8 year ago and is a donation, so where does PF come in. I know we are desperate for results but let us wait for projects started by PF to come to fruition
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