Nairobi County is set to open its first public eye hospital that will cater for patients with eye problems starting in November.
The Mama Lucy Eye Hospital in Umoja 2 Annex is currently offering free surgical and medical eye services until Friday, 03 November.
Mama Lucy Hospital CEO, Martin Alfred Wafula said the hospital will offer surgery, lens replacement and treatment for eye problems.
"This facility will be seeing patients with purely eye problems, treat medically all eye cases, cataract surgery of eye-related complications, offer and replace eye lenses to patients who will require them," he said.
"We will also be able to do Intraocular and stereo injections, replacement of eye lenses at the retina.”
He noted that the ongoing eye camp, which started on Monday, 30 October, has already seen over 1,500 patients, completed 100 surgeries and issued 1,500 spectacles to all vision-impaired patients.
The eye clinic has seven ophthalmologists, and two eye lens specialists and will also serve as a training centre for eye care and treatment specialists.
It is estimated there are more than 328,000 blind people in Kenya, with another 750,000 visually impaired.
He said that cataract is the largest cause of avoidable blindness in the country, making up 43 per cent of all cases of blindness.
"By offering the establishment of an eye care and treatment facility, the county seeks to alleviate the burden of cataracts on individuals and improve their overall well-being."