At last, our very own Sightfirst project!
There are approximately 2.6 million people in West Africa who are blind, and around 75% of this blindness is preventable. However, the area is vastly under-served. For instance, surgical rates are less than 20% of the VISION 2020 targets.
With the full permission of the Council of Governors, Lions Clubs in the British Isles and Ireland have partnered with Moorfields Eye Hospital (London), with Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF), and with the Lions of Ghana, to build and run an Eye Hospital in Korle Bu, Ghana.
The new unit will itself carry out over 50,000 procedures every year, and will also train surgeons from the whole of West Africa in the basic skills and sub-specialities necessary to carry on this work over a wide area. This will ensure that the work will be “sustainable”, and will benefit the people of West Africa increasingly as time goes on.“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for life”Old Chinese proverb
Moorfields is one of the oldest and best-respected eye hospitals in the world, and has a mission statement to reach out to needy populations across the globe. We are in an ideal position to provide support in UK, where most of the fundraising will take place, and Lions in Ghana will provide practical help as needed. Other partners in the project include LCIF, the Ghana Ministry of Health, the University of Ghana Medical School, the West African College of Surgeons and the West African Health Organisation.
Lions have always prided themselves on delivering value for money, and the Moorfields Lions Eye Centre will be a prime example of this. The average cost of treatment and procedures in the new unit will be just £8.It will cost a total of £3 million to build the Eye Centre and run it for five years. LCIF has awarded a massive grant of £750,000, and from now on, the next £250,000 ofCampaign Sightfirst II funds raised by Lions in MD105 can be designated to this, our very own project. Moorfields will raise the remaining £2 million, thus making it a true partnership.
We can be very proud of this project, and of the leading role we will take. The faith shown in us by Moorfields, by LCIF and by all the other partners in the project will make this truly our very own Sightfirst Project
