‘At least two out 10,000 Nigerian children have problem seeing well’

Medical Director, Eleta Eye Institute, Dr Gboyega Ajayi said no fewer that two in 10,000 Nigerian children are blind or have severe visual impairment

Dr Ajayi said this during ‘Seeing is Believing (SIB)’, a sensitisation programme on “Comprehensive Child Eye Health for Media Practitioners and Correspondents from Oyo and Ogun States,” to prevent blindness and visual impairment organised by CBM in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Health.

Ajayi, who spoke through Mr Francis Arogundari, stated that the phenomenon is a threat to the country and “everyone should be doing something on it urgently.”

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He declared that many indigent children are in the community, requiring urgent interventions to ensure they could again see and be able to live to their full potential.

Ajayi declared that Eleta Eye Institute, in partnership with CBM and Standard Chartered Bank, had been working to provide free glasses, free surgery and free eye drug to these children in 11 states in Nigeria, Ogun and Oyo states inclusive.

According to him, many of these indigent children had eye problems such as cataract glaucoma and conjunctivitis.

The medical director, urged media support for eye health in children.

According to him, “without sight, a child will continue to live in the dark. Even if we can pay, we should talk more about eye care so that indigent children can also be taken care of.”

The cluster coordinator, SIB/Christoffen Blinden Mission (CBM), Clement Obayi, said studies in Nigeria show that the leading causes of blindness in children are preventable and treatable, adding that there is urgent need for specific interventions to, reach out-of-school children.

Obayi said the collaboration had led to  at least, “445 eye care specialists; 14,105 teachers and community structures have been trained and over 1.5 million children screened; 2,388 health care workers have also been trained at primary health centres in both Oyo and Ogun states.

“27,500 spectacles have been provided, 2,150 low vision devices provided; 3,460 surgeries conducted and almost 17 million reached with child eye health information through the media.”

Chairperson, National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), Oyo State, Jadesola Ajibola, called for the intervention of the media through sensitisation to reduce sudden blindness and visual impairment among children.