Health
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Nigeria will join the world to mark the World Sight Day on October 9, with the theme: “Universal Eye Health: No More Avoidable Blindness”
| By Anayo Ezugwu | Oct. 13, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT |
ON October 9, the international community will look into ways of preventing avoidable blindness. This is line with the theme of this year’s World Sight Day: “Universal Eye Health; No More Avoidable Blindness.” Stakeholders, particularly those in the health sector will key into the WHO Global Action Plan to identify eye diseases prevalent in their areas and map out how they could be prevented.
This year’s theme is apt given the statistics from the World Health Organisation, WHO, which showed that approximately 285 million people worldwide live with low vision and blindness. Of this number 39 million people are blind, while 246 million have moderate or severe visual impairment. It also pointed out that about 90 percent of blind people live in low-income countries but the good news is that 80 percent of visual impairment is avoidable, readily treatable and/or preventable.
In Nigeria , different professionals involved in eye care like Optometrists, Ophthalmologists, Ophthalmic nurses and their partners will be organising different programs which include walks, visual screenings, media talk shows, advocacy visits to government functionaries and influential people etc with the aim of creating awareness of these blindness causing diseases among the populace, promoting at least annual eye examination by qualified personnel and advocating for better eye care services and accessibility in the country.
The Nigerian Optometric Association, NOA, both the national and state chapters have released plans and guidelines towards ensuring that this year’s celebrations makes a great impact in the lives of the people and creates a lasting impression in their minds. And the public must know the importance of annual eye examination and the need to seek professional eye care whenever in need of eye care services.
Anene Chukwuemeka, principal optometrist, Florida Eye Clinic, Abuja, told Realnews that this year’s programme must be geared at addressing the areas identified by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, IAPB. He listed the areas to include collection of better evidence on the magnitude and prevalence of blindness; training of more eye care professionals; provision of comprehensive eye care services and how to integrate eye care into the existing health care system. There is also the need to identify and eliminate social and economic obstacles that particularly make the poor and the marginalised not to care for their eyes.
According to him, the eye conditions identified by WHO and IAPB – Vision 2020- that can lead to avoidable blindness are cataract, trachoma, refractive error, low vision, diabetic retinopathy, childhood blindness, vitamin A deficiency, onchocerciasis, age related macular degeneration and glaucoma. These eye conditions are very much in the third world countries and many Nigerians are either visually impaired or become blind because of them.
Chukwuemeka said the theme of this year’s celebration is apt and seeks to promote eye health for all. “In order to achieve this, there is need to increase accessibility of eye care services not only in state capitals and big cities but in every corner of this country. Most of our local government headquarters cannot boast of an average eye clinic with qualified eye care professionals. Most of our citizens are blind today because they cannot gain access to good eye care so they patronise quacks and herbalists for their eye care needs,” he said.
“Therefore to ensure ‘universal eye health’ and say ‘no more avoidable blindness’, governments both at the state and federal are encouraged to integrate eye care in the primary health care system and establish at least one eye clinic in each of the 776 local government areas of the federation with clear cut referral system to the next level of eye care. Those clinics should be equipped with basic equipment for prompt clinical diagnosis, management and referral as the case may be,” he said.
According to him, it is equally important to train and employ more eye care personnel especially Optometrists who are primary eye care professionals to run such clinics.
WHO and IAPB, set aside the World Sight Day to draw the attention of the world to different eye conditions that lead to blindness and visual impairment.
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Tags: Anene Chukwuemeka WHO World Health Organisation World Sight Day
