Ghanaian actress Yvonne Nelson has lambasted Ghanaian businesses, branding them as stingy having failed to support her Glaucoma Foundation after making promises.
The Yvonne Nelson Glaucoma Foundation (YNGF) was launched in 2010 in association with the Glaucoma Association of Ghana to educate the public on the causes, treatment and prevention of the disease, among other objectives.
Yvonne used her celebrity status to sensitize the public on dangers of glaucoma and to let people know that the disease is treatable.
The Foundation was designed to also create an effective monitoring system to help control existing cases and record new cases.
Speaking exclusively to 3news.com, the celebrated actress revealed that she had received numerous promises from Ghanaian businesses but hasn’t heard anything till date.
“I remember when I launched it, a lot of companies came out and said we are going to support you, this and that but till date nobody has. “Ghanaian companies are stingy; they will promise you and fail and make you talk, talk, talk sit down with the best proposal in the world but will just not take you seriously.
“The challenges we are having with the Glaucoma Foundation is money because we don’t have money to do anything.
“I have patients I buy medicines for but I won’t put it on social media and let the world see that I am buying xalatan or cusimolol or whatever for this person. “I believe God sees everything;
I don’t have to put it on social media and have the entire media crew post it up. “Randomly people will call me and say we have problems, we have this and that. I do it in the low because I believe God sees everything and I don’t have to put it on social media”.
She also appealed to government to subsidise glaucoma medications because they are too expensive “Eye drops like xalatan cost over GH¢170 and it will last you less than a month.
So, if you are a woman somewhere in the village around the Volta Region, where are you going to get money to get the xalatan?” she asked.
“It’s a serious disease and not something that we have to play with at all and we need government and the Ministry of Health to throw more light on it. They need to get on the ground and do something about glaucoma because the cases in Ghana are very alarming.”