{"id":28183,"date":"2025-10-09T15:46:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T12:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/?p=28183"},"modified":"2025-10-09T15:46:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T12:46:13","slug":"siaya-commemorates-world-sight-day-provides-eye-care-services-to-staff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/siaya-commemorates-world-sight-day-provides-eye-care-services-to-staff\/","title":{"rendered":"SIAYA COMMEMORATES WORLD SIGHT DAY, PROVIDES EYE CARE SERVICES TO STAFF"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The County Government of Siaya commemorated World Sight Day today, honoring patients who benefit from eye care services.<\/p>\n

The event was addressed by Perez Ogonyo, Deputy Director of Human Resource Management, representing Director Susan Raba, Ms. Ogonyo welcomed participants on behalf of the County Government and encouraged staff to seek eye care services for sustainable solutions.<\/p>\n

She reaffirmed the County\u2019s commitment to supporting these initiatives within existing healthcare provisions to improve staff well-being.<\/p>\n

Themed \"Taking Eye Care to the Hearts of Decision Makers,\" World Sight Day, established in 1998, is celebrated globally to promote curative and preventive eye care.<\/p>\n

In Siaya, the County plans to conduct eye screenings, treat infections, and address cataracts, starting with the Office of the Governor, the Cabinet, Chief Officers, and Directors, before extending to County Government staff, County Assembly leadership, and the public.<\/p>\n

In Kenya, approximately eight million people require eye care services, but only 15% can access them due to challenges such as distance, financial constraints, limited human resources, and lack of essential equipment. Siaya County is addressing these issues by offering screenings, treatments, provision of reading glasses, and bookings for suspected cataract cases through its Community Health Extension and Response Officers (CHERO). All sub-county hospitals in Siaya provide eye care services under the Social Health Authority (SHA) framework, with eye care integrated into community and government healthcare infrastructure. Legislation has been enacted to bring these services closer to residents.<\/p>\n

According to County Eye Coordinator Mr. Calvin Omondi, 90% of learning is visual, underscoring the eye\u2019s critical role. He emphasized that World Sight Day raises awareness and provides curative and preventive treatments, noting that 80% of blindness cases are avoidable with proper intervention.<\/p>\n

Patients shared their experiences, expressing gratitude to the County Government for restoring their eyesight. Siaya currently operates six eye clinics in Ugenya, Ukwala, Madiany, Ambira, Siaya County Referral Hospital, and Bondo.<\/p>\n

\"\"Last year, the event was held in Alego Usonga, while this year\u2019s commemoration focused on Siaya staff across all levels. Organized by the County Government in partnership with The Fred Hollows Foundation, Ruma Women Development, Dongruok Doho, and Globecome, the event also featured a health petition from these NGOs.<\/p>\n

They urged the County Assembly to prioritize affordable, quality eye care integrated into the healthcare system and accessible to all.<\/p>\n

The NGOs called for increased budget allocations to address the 15% eye morbidity rate, which receives disproportionately low funding compared to other healthcare services.<\/p>\n

They also advocated for more human resources, enhanced eye health education, public awareness, and advocacy to improve eye care management in the County.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The County Government of Siaya commemorated World Sight Day today, honoring patients who benefit from eye care services. The event was addressed by Perez Ogonyo, Deputy Director of Human Resource Management, representing Director Susan Raba, Ms. Ogonyo welcomed participants on behalf of the County Government and encouraged staff to seek eye care services for sustainable […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":28184,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siaya.go.ke\/siaya\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}