News
“Properly use prescribed eye drops to avoid having complications from wrongful usage”
An Optometrist and Manager of Bliss Eye Care, Dr Zakarea Al-hassan Balure, a private eye care clinic in Wa in the Upper West Region has advised persons suffering from eye conditions to properly use prescribed eye drops to avoid having complications from wrongful usage.
He stated that some of the medications sold on the market were not registered and said even if they were, users still required education on how to use the eye drops properly in order not to complicate their eye problems and also prevent future challenges.
Dr Balure said this at a free eye screening exercise organised for residents of Bawiesibai in the Sissala East Municipality as part of activities scheduled for the grand coronation of Alhaji Abdul Salam Bachewii Akate as the Paramount Chief of the Bawiesibai Traditional Area.
Out of 605 people screened, 535 of them had pathological problems comprising 13 refractive errors, and 12 cases of Cataract and Glaucoma, among others and were given eye drops for the minor problems.
Dr Balure said eye complications, particularly cataracts had led to many blind cases which could have been avoided if they received prompt screening, the right information, and the needed support.
He also noted that eye problems, when detected early, could be controlled or treated to prevent blindness in future and called on the public to pay critical attention to their eyes by seeking early treatment.
Speaking on behalf of the chiefs and people of Bawiesibai, Madam Shaida Akate expressed gratitude to Bliss Eye Care and the team for their excellent job done for the people of Bawiesibai.
She said there was still a lot of work to be done in the community as many people did not know the importance of the screening and pledged their support to organize such programmes frequently.
The beneficiaries expressed gratitude to Bliss Eye Care for the intervention and said bringing the free screening and educating them on the use of the eye drop was a blessing even though most of them did not have a clue on how to use the eye drop.
FROM RAFIA ABDUL RAZAK, WA
News
Swallowed by the Sea! …Keta’s coastal lines, landmarks, efforts to preserve heritage
The Atlantic Ocean is no longer a distant blue horizon for the people of Keta.
It now circles around their doorsteps, uninvited, unrelenting, pulling down walls and other structures, erasing memories, and threatening lives.
Hovering precariously between the restless sea and the Keta Lagoon, this once-thriving coastal town is slowly being obliterated.
Salt water has become both a physical and metaphorical threat, dissolving the town’s past as fast as it claims its future.
Madam Aku Atitso, 62, lives in a crumbling former Prisons Service quarters – one of the few structures still standing on the eroded stretch of Queen Street.
She sits quietly at the entrance, preparing a modest breakfast for herself and her granddaughter.
The air is thick with salt and silence. “The sea took everything,” she says softly. “My husband’s nets, our mattress, our memories all gone overnight.” Her voice trembles. “This place too is dying. But it’s the last place with a roof over my head.”
A few metres away, Aunty Esinam, 79, watches the sea from a low stool beside a wooden shelter. Her eyes do not blink. “That spot,” she points, “used to be someone’s living room, a whole family lived there”.
It’s not just homes that are vanishing. Landmarks that anchored Keta’s cultural identity are disappearing one after another. The once-imposing Fort Prinzenstein, a haunting relic of the transatlantic slave trade is now more of a ruin than a monument.
the encroaching waters along Keta’s
coast.
encroaching waters along Keta’s coast
The colonial-era Bremen factory, the old cinema where generations of children once laughed at flickering black-and-white films is also gone.
Queen Street, once the town’s bustling backbone, is now a watery corridor choked with debris.
Standing atop a section of the sea defence wall, 69-year-old retired teacher Efo Kwasi Agbeko surveys what remains.
“The first police station is mostly gone,” he says, gesturing part of the building stuck in the sea sand, only ruins and a few rooms remain.
“This town is fighting, but the sea is winning,” he said.
Even the Cape St. Paul Lighthouse, Keta’s historic sentinel, leans perilously toward the water, and fishermen say holes in the shore are opening more frequently, sometimes every week.
That leaves a thick cloud of uncertainty hanging around the historic town of Keta.
Once upon a time, it was a vibrant town noted for business but currently left with ruins with a few of the residents watching in awe the sea’s devastation.
From: Geoffrey Kwame Buta, Keta, Volta Region
News
Ghanaians climax Easter with fun-filled activities
Christians around the world and other faith based groups last Monday climaxed the Easter celebration with a number of fun-filled outdoor and indoor activities.
With streets empty, fun seekers stormed church premises where picnics were held while others partied in many ways.
Others spent the day at the various beaches and music and film shows occupying the others.
velleyball competition
at the Laboma Beach
Church in Tema Community 8 engaged
in a number of activities including the
popular draught competition
At the churches, participants engaged in bible reading, football, volleyball, playing cards, table tennis, horse racing, bouncing castles, swimming and oware.
one of the picnic venues
Others played ludo, tag of war, lime and spoon, draught, music competitions among others.
The Spectator captured some of the exciting scenes around Accra-Tema for the benefit of readers.
Story & pictures by Victor A. Buxton
