NGO wants government’s intervention for blind people

AN NGO, Home and Street Kids Welfare Initiative (HSKi), has called on the three tiers of government to look into the plights of blind people and ameliorate their sufferings.

The NGO’s Executive Director, Miss Funmi Omisope, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ilorin on Monday that most blind people were not born blind.

Omisope said that many of them ended up being blind due to health challenges which affect their eyes and lack of prompt and adequate healthcare.

“There are communities in Nigeria where blindness has been taken and accepted as a normal way of life and it is becoming embedded as part of their culture.

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“Women in the blind community believe that the more kids they have, the better their chances of survival.

“They have low maternal survival rate, they lack access to the primary healthcare system, thus most of them engage in self-help delivery.

“The life of the younger ones can only be described as suffering in silence.

“There is no potable water, they are impoverished and their houses dilapidated, diseases is very high and blindness is on the rise in their midst.

“They have no healthcare facilities, and when they have sicknesses such as malaria and eye defects, they resolve to self-traditional medication, which results in eventual blindness,” the executive director said.

She urged the government and the society not to give up on them, saying that they were part of our communities and should be advocated for.

“We, therefore, call on public-spirited individuals or group to proffer solutions to this menace that is about overtaking our society.

“Let us join hands to make the world a better place; let us make Nigeria worth living for her citizens,’’ she said.