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Imperial Logistics helps bring eye care to the people of Nigeria

Imperial Logistics Limited, through its Worldwide Healthcare business in Nigeria and in partnership with the esteemed Tulsi Chanrai Foundation, is honoured to be contributing to the establishment of world-class eye hospital in Abuja.

The state-of-the-art facility will provide all super-specialities in ophthalmology and will train Nigerian personnel in all aspects of eye care. Outreach camps will also take the hospital’s services to people and communities in need in a 100km radius of Abuja, providing them with free eye care. At full capacity, the new eye hospital will perform 15 000 surgeries annually.

With the prevalence of vision impairment and blindness in Nigeria reportedly among the highest globally, the Tulsi Chanrai Foundation accordingly aims to reduce avoidable blindness among the rural poor of Nigeria by providing high-quality free eye surgeries, treatment and eye care. Since its inception in 1992, the non-profit foundation has established five eye centres in Nigeria and restored the vision of 110 000 people.

“It is now establishing the Tulsi Chanrai Foundation Eye Hospital in Abuja, a super-speciality eye hospital and training institute that includes the outpatient clinic sponsored by Worldwide Healthcare,” explains Sherring Thekekkara, CEO of the Worldwide Healthcare Group.

In the first phase of the Tulsi Chanrai Foundation Eye Hospital’s development, 54 beds will be provided, 40 of which will be free for underprivileged patients. Future plans for the facility include increasing its bed capacity to 100 beds and establishing a training programme for all levels of eye care human resources. Primary and secondary eye care centres are also in the pipeline. “We are honoured to be playing a key role in this initiative.” Thekekkara expands.

In addition to contributing to the outpatient clinic, Worldwide Healthcare is running an in-house campaign where employees can sponsor eye surgeries – with pledges for 100 surgeries already in place.

Experts have stated that if Nigeria’s vision crisis is not prioritised, the number of blind and severely visually impaired adults in the country will increase by more than 40 per cent over the next decade. “As a leader in the distribution and marketing of healthcare products, with deep roots in Nigeria, Worldwide Healthcare’s decision to invest in Nigeria’s fight against blindness was clear-cut,” adds Johan Truter, CEO of Imperial Logistics African Regions.

It is estimated that 4.25 million Nigerian adults aged 40 years and over are visually impaired or blind – an alarming statistic that can now actively addressed by working alongside the Tulsi Chanrai Foundation. “Such an undertaking bares testament to our commitment to making a real difference in the lives of the communities in which we operate,” Truter concludes.

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