Community Eye Health Journal (Sep 2006)
Setting the pace for VISION 2020 in Ghana: the case of Bawku Eye Care Programme
Abstract
IntroductionGhana is a west African country bordered on the south by the Atlantic Ocean, and the north, east, and west by the Republics of Burkina Faso, Togo, and Ivory Coast respectively. It has a population of 20,771,382. Prevalence of blindness is estimated at one per cent. It currently has 52 ophthalmologists and 216 ophthalmic nurses (National Eye Care Secretariat), with nearly half of the ophthalmologists (19) located in the national capital and its environs. The health sector attracted 7.9 per cent of government budget in 2002 and 12.3 per cent in the 2006 budget. Currently there is a comprehensive national health insurance policy being implemented that covers most of the common eye operations done in the country.
