By Noimot OlayiwolaThe Minister of Public Health and Supreme Council of Health Secretary-General HE Abdullah bin Khalid al-Qahtani yesterday officially inaugurated a new ophthalmology clinic at the Omar Bin al-Khattab primary healthcare centre.The clinic, which will conduct eye check-up, diagnose and treat most eye-related problems such as myopia and cataract, is the 10th of its kind in a recently introduced initiative in health centres across the country.There are eight ophthalmology specialists and four optometrists working in the clinics, equipped with the latest instruments. The clinic will also conduct regular screening for retina problems in diabetics and hypertensive patients and those suffering from other acute and chronic eye problems.Six more clinics, three before the end of the year and another three in 2012, are being planned.Speaking to the media after opening the clinic, HE al-Qahtani emphasised the importance of primary healthcare, describing it as “the closest to the people”.“Primary care is the foundation of our business just as we stressed in the newly launched National Health Strategy, and already, plans are ongoing to begin launching all the 35 projects mentioned in that document as soon as possible, so that we can have something tangible to present to our board meeting coming up in October,” the health minister said.He said the National Cancer Strategy will be launched next month.The minister also said that two more health centres would extend their services over the weekend in addition to the seven currently doing so.HE al-Qahtani said that more focus would be on creating specialised clinics in the health centres based on patients’ needs in main catchment areas across the country.Primary Healthcare Centre department executive director Dr Maryam al-Malki said that the decision to extend the services in some health centres into the weekend was based on a survey conducted recently.