Eye Foundation Community Hospital

The vision of Eye Foundation Hospital is to eradicate avoidable blindness by providing accessible, high-quality, and affordable eye care to all individuals.

Eye Foundation Community Hospital (EFCH) serves as the social enterprise arm of Eye Foundation Hospital. As a registered Trust, Eye Foundation Hospital aims to expand its reach to include those who are economically disadvantaged, vulnerable, and marginalized in society.

In pursuit of its goal to provide eye care to underserved communities, Eye Foundation Hospital has established and fostered various platforms and collaborative partnerships with communities, governmental and non-governmental organizations, corporations, and individual stakeholders. Through these partnerships, Eye Foundation Hospital delivers cost-effective, high-quality eye care services, including both free and low-cost options, to those in need.

Through its diverse interventions and platforms, Eye Foundation Community Hospital (EFCH) has accomplished the following milestones:

• • Provided subsidized or free eye care services to over two million less privileged individuals.
  • Conducted more than 250,000 surgical operations, particularly cataract surgeries.
  • Dispensed over 200,000 eyeglasses, which include reading glasses, to those in need.

The Eye Foundation Community Hospital operates from three main centres and multiple Primary Eye Care Centres (PECCs):

1. 1. Eye Foundation Community Hospital Ijebu-Imushin, Ogun State: Established in 2006 as the flagship head office, this hospital exemplifies Eye Foundation's dedication to constructing sustainable infrastructure aimed at eradicating avoidable blindness and improving access to eye care for underserved populations.
   2. Deseret Eye Centre Ikeja, Lagos: This branch of the Eye Foundation Community Hospital is situated at 12, Sobo Arobiodu Street, Ikeja GRA, Lagos.
   3. Eye Foundation Centre: This branch of the Eye Foundation Community Hospital is situated at 104, Idiroko Road, beside Ojugbele Hospital, Ota Ogun State.

In line with its commitment to reaching a minimum of 10,000 outreach patients annually, the Eye Foundation Hospital endeavours to expand healthcare access by establishing Primary Eye Care Centre (PECCs). These centres serve as vital gateways to eye care services for underprivileged and low-income communities where access to basic eye care is scarce or non-existent. PECCs and outreach programmes are instrumental in bringing eye care services within immediate reach of these communities. Some of the existing PECCs include:

• • Primary Eye Care Centre, Abeokuta
  • Primary Eye Care Centre, Agege
  • Primary Eye Care Centre, Ijebu-Ode
  • Primary Eye Care Centre, Sagamu

Community Eye Health

In order to extend eye care to underserved populations, Eye Foundation Hospital carries out various initiatives and programmes that are community-oriented. These initiatives are designed to deliver crucial eye care services to disadvantaged populations, with a focus on promoting eye health and preventing avoidable blindness.

Some of the initiatives/programmes are:

         1. Outreaches

Outreach programmes play a crucial role in enhancing healthcare accessibility, particularly for communities facing financial constraints in accessing eye care services. These programs serve as a pivotal platform for Eye Foundation Community Hospital (EFCH) to expand the reach of its eye care services.

 A typical outreach program includes:

• • Conducting eye tests and screenings
  • Providing eye drops and reading glasses
  • Referring patients for surgeries, primarily cataract surgeries, and ensuring follow-up care, typically one-month post-operation
  • Referring individuals with more complex eye conditions to appropriate specialists.
  • Arranging return transportation for patients requiring cataract surgeries to the base hospital, subject to agreements with collaborating partners.

         2. Project Mercy

Project Mercy, an annual initiative launched by Eye Foundation Community Hospital (EFCH) in 2017, was dedicated to providing 1,000 cost-free cataract surgeries to underprivileged individuals in Ogun State, Nigeria. Since its inception, Project Mercy has successfully completed over 3,000 cataract surgeries, entirely funded by Eye Foundation Hospital. This admirable project takes place throughout the year.

Despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Project Mercy managed to carry out over 400 cataract surgeries. The hospital strictly adhered to protective guidelines, procedures, and policies to mitigate the risk of Covid-19 exposure. Additionally, in 2021, Project Mercy was extended to include eligible beneficiaries in Lagos State and in 2022 to include eligible beneficiaries in Abuja.

         3.  Vision Centre Programme

The Vision Centre Programme, launched in August 2020, aims to enhance eye screening and interventions by fostering constructive collaborations and partnerships with individuals, government entities, and non-governmental organizations. The programme also provides highly subsidized cataract and pterygium surgeries. To date, the program has conducted over 500 outreach events, screening over 100,000 patients. Additionally, it has distributed over 50,000 medications and more than 30,000 pairs of readers glasses.

Through these partnerships, the programme has successfully performed over 10,000 surgeries. These surgeries were carried out at Eye Foundation Community Hospital in Ijebu-Imushin, Ogun State, Eye Foundation Centre in Gwarinpa Abuja, and Deseret Eye Centre in Ikeja, Lagos.

In summary, the direct outreach initiatives, programmes and collaborative efforts with various stakeholders by the Eye Foundation Community Hospital are significantly improving the overall well-being of individuals. This holistic approach is leading to reduced poverty, enhanced vision, better health, a revitalized quality of life, and increased economic productivity for many.