World Sight Day: Why over 4.25m adult Nigerians are ‘blind', by ophthalmologists
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Loading... - Edna Morgan
- 13 Oct 2022
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Ahead of today’s World Sight Day (WSD), ophthalmologists have raised the alarm that over 4.25 million adults in Nigeria, aged 40 and above, suffer from moderate to severe visual impairment or blindness.
WSD is marked every second Thursday of October to raise awareness about retinal diseases and care of the eyes. It is also to support Sightsaver’s work to combat avoidable blindness. The theme of this year’s event is ‘Love Your Eyes’.
The ophthalmologists said cataracts, glaucoma and uncorrected refractive errors are leading causes of blindness. While cataract is the leading cause of blindness (reversible), followed by glaucoma (irreversible), uncorrected refractive errors are the leading cause of visual impairment.
They also decried the situation where Nigeria has 700 ophthalmologists to 200 million people against the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommendation of one ophthalmologist for 50,000 people in developing countries.
They warned that the number of people with vision loss is expected to rise from 1.1 billion in 2022 to 1.7 billion by 2050, adding that ageing populations and increased prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as diabetes, could exacerbate eye health issues in years to come. They said natural eye drops clear immature cataracts but are not very effective in patients with uncontrolled diabetes mellitus.
As part of efforts to address the situation, they recommended, among other things, that there is a need for government to prioritise healthcare in Nigeria, improve remuneration for healthcare providers, boost eye-care services in rural communities, scale up awareness at both rural and urban areas and create more revolving funds for the health sector in general.
The experts include a professor of ophthalmology at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos (CMUL)/Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Idi-Araba and Chairman, Lagos State Traditional Medicine Board (LSTMB), Adebukola Adefule-Ositelu; and a consultant ophthalmologist and senior lecturer at LUTH, Dr. Olubanke Ilo.
Ilo, in an interview with The Guardian, said: “According to the national blindness and visual impairment study, the latest Nigerian survey did so far (2009), it is estimated that 4.25 million adults, aged 40 years and above, have moderate to severe visual impairment or blindness. Prevalence of blindness was 4.2 per cent and severe visual impairment was 1.5 per cent.” Read More...
