Church Donation Enhances Eye Care at Hospital in Ghana

LDS Charities, the humanitarian arm of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has furnished new equipment to the eye clinic at Lekma Hospital in Teshie, Ghana.

As part of the Church’s vision treatment initiative, volunteer ophthalmologists assist healthcare providers around the world with training and equipment to treat vision problems.

In 2013, vision specialist Jesse Hunsaker, M.D., assisted in developing an eye clinic at Lekma Hospital with the ability to perform cataract and other eye surgeries. Donations from LDS Charities at that time included an operating microscope and examination equipment for the clinic.

A second vision project this year furnished additional equipment for the eye clinic, building on the first donation and enabling its doctors to provide expanded patient care in this community hospital.

“The eye service at Lekma Hospital has grown with these donations into a very busy entity,” Dr. Hunsaker said. “It allows the many Ghanaians in Teshie to have access to quality eye care without traveling to downtown Accra.”

The new equipment has enhanced examination and diagnostic capabilities, helping to accurately measure and fine tune the prescription of eyeglasses, objectively calculate refractive errors, and significantly improve the accuracy of cataract surgery. Another new device measures a patient’s field of vision to determine the causes and amount of vision loss, especially in the treatment of glaucoma.

Ophthalmologist, Dr. Aseye Aidam, and optometrist, Dr. Albert Dakpallah, both expressed their sincere appreciation to Dr. Hunsaker and LDS Charities for the in-service training, equipment and supplies given to Lekma Hospital’s eye clinic.

“Every day we had to send patients to hospitals in Korle-Bu and Accra because we did not have adequate equipment to meet their needs,” commented Dr. Aidam.  

Recent donations have created a marked increase in activity in the eye clinic at Lekma Hospital. “We are excited for the improved and expanding patient care which we are able to provide for the people of Ghana,” Dr. Aidam said. She also reported she had just begun performing eye surgeries at the hospital.

LDS Charities operates both independently and in cooperation with other charitable organizations and governments, performing local initiatives and global projects throughout the world. The local initiatives are need-based projects tailored to particular locations in conjunction with local leaders. Besides vision treatment, projects include neonatal resuscitation training, clean water projects, food production and nutrition initiatives, wheelchair distribution and childhood immunizations.