Shell’s Vision First outreach restores sight for over 2,000 Lagosians
Sopuruchi Onwuka
Shell says its five-day medical outreach in Mushin area of Lagos scored significant 5752 interventions that provided different reliefs to patients who approached the company’s field clinics for free services.
The company expressed satisfaction with the feedback of testimonies flowing from the beneficiaries of the programme.
According to figures rolled by Mrs Gladys Afam-Anadu of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO) Limited, the company’s medical team performed 245 eye surgeries, 1,992 laboratory services, dispensed drugs to 1,863 patients provided general consultation to 1,652 people.
Mrs Afam-Anadu explained that 198 of the 245 eye surgeries were for cataract and 47 for Pterygium; stating that the outreach would be the fourth in Lagos since the introduction of the Vision First initiative in 2022.
She added that the latest milestones mean the programme has reached more than 6,000 people with over 400 eye surgeries and distribution of more than 2,000 eyeglasses since 2022.
Managing Director of SNEPCo, Ronald Adams, declared that “vision is an important part of life, and we’re pleased at the testimonies from Mushin, which were the same positive feedback from the three earlier sessions. With the support of NNPC and co-venture partners, we will continue to implement impactful social investments which have been an integral part of our operations since we pioneered deep-water oil production at Bonga in 2005.”
Shell said the Vision First initiative aims to combat avoidable visual impairment through early diagnosis and treatment. The programme came in direct response to a report in the National Eye Health Policy 2019 that made it clear that blindness in three out of four people in Nigeria is preventable.
In commenting on the impact, the company said there have been testimonies of restored sights among the over 2,000 people who accessed healthcare services in the outreach jointly organized with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
The Oracle reports that the NNPC Limited is the concessionaire of the production sharing agreement between NEPCo and the government .
“Now I can see clearly, I can see my beautiful wife again, after not being able to see her for some years very well. I am really happy,” a beneficiary, Ademola Alabi Joshua, said after surgery for cataract on his eyes. “When I got here, my first eye was operated, and I discovered that the second day I came, I could see very clearly, so I decided to go for the second eye, which was also operated yesterday, and today I discovered that my sight was regained back to normal. Thank you so much.”
Another beneficiary, Mrs Taiwo Onogu, said she was billed N1.4 million for the eye surgery which was eventually conducted free at the outreach.
