The Osun State Government has announced it will soon begin free eye screening for pupils and teachers in private primary and secondary schools across the state as part of Governor Ademola Adeleke’s Imole School Eye Health Programme.
This was disclosed by the Executive Secretary of the Osun Health Insurance Agency (OSHIA), Rasaq Akindele, at the fourth-quarter meeting with service providers, organised by the agency and attended by representatives of health facilities working with the organisation, held in Osogbo on Wednesday.
The PUNCH reports that on 30 April, the state government commenced medical procedures for pupils in public primary and secondary schools found to have serious eye defects.
Akindele disclosed this while speaking at the concluding session of the two-day first-quarter providers’ forum and training on basic emergency care for OSHIA-accredited providers, held in Osogbo.
He said 345,000 public primary and secondary school pupils were screened for eye-related challenges under the state-funded initiative called the Imole School Eye Health Programme.
The Executive Secretary added that following the screening, over 42,000 pupils received free treatment, including medication for their various sight challenges, while others were given free glasses.
Akindele also announced an increase in payments from the state government to service providers for each enrollee.
‘We know that there is a need for us to increase what we are paying as capitation. It used to be N570 per enrollee, but given the current economic situation, I think there is a need for an increase. So, we have raised it to N700 per enrollee for now.
‘And in the shortest possible time, we are still going to increase it. We expect that providers will be more hardworking and conscientious in giving treatment to enrollees when they visit the facilities. What I expect is a significant improvement in the care that enrollees will receive’, Akindele said.
Regarding plans by OSHIA, especially about extending free eye screening to pupils in private schools, Akindele said the difficult financial situation the state is facing has delayed the extension of the programme to private schools and their teachers.
He, however, assured that ‘The Governor, Senator Adeleke, remains committed to everything he promised. We are going to extend eye care to private schools and their teachers. It is in the pipeline and will be rolled out anytime now’.
While assessing the performance of service providers over the last three months, the Executive Secretary said, ‘There have been many improvements in the care of enrollees. We have fewer complaints now, and many people are showing gratitude and appreciation to the facilities for the care rendered. In essence, there is a significant improvement from the last time until today’.
