FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
St John’s Antigua – February 4, 2013: With the implementation of both clinics, the Caribbean Council for the Blind/Eye Care Caribbean (in association with the Government of Antigua & Barbuda) moves closer to the goal of Class 1 Eye Care Services for all persons living in the country.
“Commencing this week, CCB began implementation of a series of one-month Eye Clinics at both institutions.Through the month of February, more than 500 residents and staff of both institutions will be screened for all major eye conditions endemic to the Caribbean. Additionally, all employees and residents of both institutions, who need prescription glasses, will receive their spectacles, compliments of the Caribbean Council for the Blind” said CEO of CCB-Eye Care Caribbean, Arvel Grant.
The Clinics are being staffed by 4 Refractionists from Antigua and Barbuda who will be working under the overall supervision of Dr. Genalin Ang, Head of Optometry Studies at the University of Guyana.
These Clinics mark the next step in the Government’s plan to place Class 1 Eye Health Services in all the major Health Centres across Antigua and Barbuda, starting with: Gray’s Farm, Johnson’s Point, and Clare Hall Clinics.
Vision Centres will also be established at: All Saints, The Hannah Thomas Hospital (in Barbuda) and other Health Centres as approved by the Government.
“Work to establish Vision Centres in: Gray’s Farm, Clare Hall and Johnson’s Point is more than 80% complete” Grant added.
He confirmed that CCB-Eye Care Caribbean has imported just over EC$ 200,000 worth of eye equipment to be installed in Health Centres across Antigua and Barbuda.
Last year, Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer announced that three Clinics in Antigua and one in Barbuda had been identified as Vision Centres to serve the twin-island State.
“The Clinics will be accessible … the whole idea is to make eye care available in a manner that is affordable. I will promise you that the cost will be very minimal and affordable. Nobody that has been diagnosed with eye problems in the country will be denied that opportunity. We believe that the whole question of sight and vision is critical to our social development,” the Prime Minister then said.
The initiatives being undertaken by CCB/Eye Care Caribbean are in keeping with its mandate of “preventing blindness and visual impairment while restoring sight and creating opportunities for persons whose sight cannot be restored.”
Contact: Arvel Grant
Chief Executive Officer
Tel: 1-268-770-0922
PURPOSE
“Preventing blindness and visual impairment; while restoring sight and creating opportunities for persons whose sight cannot be restored”.
Lower All Saints Road – P.O. Box 1517 – Antigua, West Indies
Tel: 1-(268)-462-4111/462-6369/562-2216
Fax: (268)-462-6371