By Emmanuella Oghenetega
Nigeria, alongside the rest of the world, is commemorating the World Glaucoma Week. And to this end, the federal government has commenced free eye screening and distribution of free spectacles to civil servants and general public.
The free screening exercise and distribution of free spectacles in various forms will take place at the Federal Ministry of Health, and also, locations outside of the Ministry. The locations identified include; the Garki market which was scheduled for Monday, while that of the FCT Public Health Department at Garki will take place on Wednesday, that of Durumi Market will be on Thursday, and on Friday it will be at Area One Park, the announcement revealed.
Making this announcement was Dr. Oteri Okolo, the National Coordinator, National Eye Health Programme at the Federal Ministry of Health, Abuja.
Speaking, the Permanent Secretaty of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Daju Kachollom, represented by Dr. Oteri Okolo, the National Coordinator National Eye Health Programme, expressed hope that the experience fuels passion for raising awareness about glaucoma and advocating for regular eye check-ups.
She urged everyone to take action, schedule a routine comprehensive eye exam, encourage others to do same and spread the word about the importance of early detection.
“Together, we can make a difference and help prevent vision loss caused by glaucoma.”
In his speech, the Minister of State of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, represented by Dr. Michael Akpan, the Director Port Health Division, Federal Ministry of Health &Social Welfare, said, “World Glaucoma Week (WGW). WGW is a global initiative of the World Glaucoma Association, and the World Glaucoma Patient Association designed to raise awareness on glaucoma directed at patients, policymakers, eye-care service providers and the public.”
“WGW is an annual event held every second week of March. The theme for this year is “Uniting for a Glaucoma Free World; See the Future Clearly”.
He stated, that Glaucoma is an eye condition in which the optic nerve is progressively and irreversibly damaged resulting to loss of peripheral vision in the beginning, and blindness at advanced stages.
“It is also described as “the silent thief of sight” as it develops slowly, and vision can be greatly impaired before any signs or symptoms are apparent. It is the second commonest cause of blindness and leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide and in Nigeria. However, it is manageable with early detection.”
According to the Minister, the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, has in recent times, followed a rigorous and collaborative process, developed and launched the National Glaucoma Screening and Treatment Guidelines.
These guidelines according to him, has been distributed to all states of the federation and the FCT.
“The document provides clinical and programmatic guidance for screening and management of glaucoma. Guidance on the setting up of patient support groups that put the patient at the centre of their care, improves access, increase adherence to lifelong management and improve their empowerment and social connections for improved outcomes is an important feature.
The Minister stated, that to tackle this, the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare through the National Eye Health Programme (NEHP) is implementing on behalf of Mr President, the Effective Spectacle Coverage Initiative Nigeria (ESCIN) also known as JigiBola 2.0.
An initiative which aims to provide free vision screening and distribute 5 million pairs of reading glasses free to Nigerians in the next 3 years.
“Following the launch of JigiBola 2.0 in 2023, the NEHP has been working in partnership with local and international partners including the Livelihood Impact Fund, Restoring Vision USA, and The Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) to scale up access to reading glasses in Nigeria for improving livelihoods particularly for persons 40years and above through the primary health care system.
“So far, over a 100, 000 Nigerians have been screened and over 80,000 spectacles dispensed. The sustainability approach involved the setting up of vision centres where spectacles are provided at a subsidized rate. So far 3 States have been covered.
Dr. Oteri Okolo, the National Coordinator National Eye Health Programme, thanked the Minister of State for ensuring that the free screening was spread across and reaches more people.
