Breast milk inappropriate for eye treatment – Optometric Association
Dr Alfred Gardemor, Public Relations Officer (PRO) for Ghana Optometric Association(GOA), said that dropping breast milk onto the eye is inappropriate to cure eye-related issues.
He said breast milk had its components that fight infections the reason why breastfeeding a child was necessary at the early stages of child growth.
However, it is no cure for eye-related problems.
Dr Gardemor said this at the launch of “GNA-GOA: My Eye! My Vision!”, a collaborative public education advocacy campaign between the Association and the Ghana News Agency to promote the need for people to access eye care and also to draw attention to vision health.
The initiative also seeks to challenge the public and policymakers to focus on vision as a health issue, which forms a critical component of mankind’s wellbeing but is often neglected.
Dr Gardemor, who is a medical officer at the Nsawam Government Hospital, said since breastfeeding helped to fight infections, people had chosen to use it to fight eye infections.
He said dropping breast milk onto the eye worsens the problem as it makes the bacteria on the eye grow bigger and stronger to fight.
Dr Gardemor said the eye was a very sensitive organ and any problem should be reported at the eye clinic for solutions.
Meanwhile, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Dr Remi Ninkpe, who is the GOA National President, urged Ghanaians to take their visual health seriously.
He said although Ghanaians were afraid of losing their sight, most did not pay attention to their eye health, adding that “see an optometrist at least once a year to avoid losing your sight or having to pay for costly eye surgery to correct vision impairment”.
DSP Ninkpe explained that blindness affected both the economy and the individual.
“Let’s empower every single Ghanaian with accurate information so that we can all make excellent decisions when it comes to health care.
“If we are all well-informed, we will be able to make better decisions and be more proactive in terms of our eye health in particular, as well as our overall well-being,” Dr. Ninkpe stated.
Mr Albert Kofi Owusu, General Manager, Ghana News Agency touching on the importance of the collaboration for the GNA-GOA: My Eyes! My Vision! Initiative said the Agency was a very powerful institution as the only wire service of the nation.
Mr Kofi Owusu indicated that research conducted by the National Media Commission revealed that about 80 per cent of radio stations outside Accra depended heavily on GNA to operate, therefore, joining forces with the Agency for the advocacy campaign was laudable.
“What it means is that people need GNA because we are the live wire of communication in Ghana, just like Reuters, CNN, and the BBC we are very crucial,” Mr Kofi Owusu noted.
The Reverend Emmanuel Kwesi Ofori, Minister in Charge Central Assemblies of God Church, Tema Community Four, who chaired the event, called on the government to support the Ghana Optometric Association to enhance their services in the country.
Source: GNA