13 Jan 2020

Member of Parliament for Kgalagadi South Mr Sam Brooks says provision of healthcare services in  Kgalagadi is a challenge, given various issues associated with the district.

He said in an interview that healthcare was a leading challenge in the district. 

Mr Brooks was speaking in the mist of multitudes of people who had come for the eye care services at MP’s Office under the auspices of Eyelight Optometrists and the Kgalagadi District Health Management Team (DHMT).

Mr Brooks noted that he found it fitting to invite opticians for the first time in Tsabong and Khuis villages to perform eye tests and give out spectacles for free. 

The Health and wellness event was organised for the vulnerable and the needy pensioners, where the Kgalagadi DHMT tested them for blood sugar, blood pressure, and Body Mass Index.

The initiative, he said, augmented critical healthcare services as the district faced resource challenges, which needed to be brought closer to the people. 

He admitted that there were challenges in the healthcare sector, hence the need to create health and wellness events as interim measures to challenges in the district. 

“This is the first event of its kind and more events of this nature are lined up for the year. 

Tsabong Primary Hospital does eye tests, but it does not give out glasses,” he said. 

Mr Brooks said that most of the eyecare services were found in Gaborone, where patients were referred to, but there was a vast distance between Kgalagadi and the city, which impacted on them negatively. 

Thus he said, bringing services to the people was pertinent for their livelihood. 

He said that he approached Eyelight Optometrists, who operated in Tlokweng as they offered free services every Sunday from 930-1230 and gave out free reading spectacles. 

The optometrists also visited Khuis village working with Kgalagadi DHMT.

He said the Tsabong Primary Healthcare Hospital had shortage of resources. 

Thus, he found it fitting to look for such services to bring them closer to the people. 

He said Optometrists distributed glasses for free, which is what the people need as most could not afford.

The free service was planned to be offered twice a year in various parts of Kgalagadi, where another one shall be held in October in Werda and Bokspits, noting that it was going to be an annual event.

For her part, Eyelight Optometrists, Dr Thanuja Panicker said this was their way of giving back to the community, where they travelled across the country to offer eye care services for free.

“Glasses can bring back the quality of life if the problem is identified and diagnosed at an early stage. 

For children below 15 years who do not have Medical Aid we do it every day. 

If a child aged 10 years loses vision, it is going to affect their quality of life, their job opportunities are reduced, the child becomes dependent, and that can in turn affect the economy of the country,” she said.

Further, Dr Panicker said their target was to give out around 200 glasses in Tsabong, adding that they were also monitoring cataract, which she said was a leading cause of preventable blindness worldwide. 

She said the condition developed on people between the ages of  40 and 50. 

If dealt with on time, the condition could be reversible. 

She said the people in Kgalagadi turned out in large numbers, which showed that they were in need of eye care services. 

She also encouraged other medical practitioners to rise to the occasion. 

“We practitioners should not only be based in the centre of the city.

We should go to villages and provide eye care or healthcare services,” she said.

In Tsabong 140 reading spectacles were donated. 

A total of 50 patients were referred to hospital for further management, two needed medicine, 32 needed further refraction for far and near combined spectacles.

Only eight people turned out to be normal. 

At Khuis 177 people were consulted, out of which 102 reading spectacles were issued out, hospital referrals for surgery  and management of cataract were 31 while 27 needed medication for allergic conditions, while 13 needed further refraction for far and near combined spectacles. 

Of the 177, only 11 were found to be normal.

A beneficiary Ms Monica Ntau born in 1946 appreciated the initiative, saying she had been referred to Princes Marina Hospital, but could not afford to travel due to lack of funds. 

She said the initiative came handy as she was given free reading spectacles. Ends