More than 17,000 Gauteng residents received free spectacles through public health facilities between April and August this year, including Soshanguve Community Health Centre, which is listed among the facilities offering eye care services in the Tshwane district.
The Gauteng Department of Health said 17,347 patients received spectacles during the five month period, including 2,841 children, as part of a broader push during Eye Care Awareness Month, which runs from 23 September to 18 October. More than 4,588 cataract operations were also performed at public hospitals in the same period, with 14 hospitals now offering the surgery the highest number of public cataract surgery centres in the country, according to the department.
The department’s Acting Deputy Director for Media Relations, Thuso Montwedi, confirmed that all public hospitals in the Tshwane district offer eye screening, except Weskoppies and Tshwane Rehabilitation. At clinic level, Soshanguve CHC is one of 13 primary healthcare facilities across the district offering free eye care services, alongside facilities including Laudium, Eersterus, Temba and Kgabo community health centres.
According to the department, eye screening is free at all listed PHC facilities. At hospital level, patients are billed through the Unified Patient Fee Schedule, though SASSA grant recipients and children under five receive services free of charge.
Residents can book screenings at their nearest facility offering eye care services, the department said, and are encouraged to watch for community mobilisation events and radio announcements for screening dates during October.
Two major developments are planned for October diabetic retinopathy screening will launch at Tshwane District Hospital on 9 October open to all people living with diabetes, though a referral is required from the hospital’s chronic department or a Tshwane District catchment PHC facility. On 29 October, a new eye clinic will officially open at Jubilee District Hospital, offering eye screening and comprehensive examinations in newly equipped consulting rooms, fitted with technology donated by Orbis Africa.
The department has urged residents over 40, and those living with diabetes or hypertension, to have regular eye examinations, warning that conditions such as diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma often cause no pain and can go unnoticed until significant vision loss has occurred.
