5m children have vision impairment in Nigeria -Optometry Association
Gbenga Sodeinde, Ado Ekiti
The Chairman of the Ekiti State Chapter of the Nigerian Optometry Association (NOA), Dr. Ayo Osadare, has put the number of children suffering from vision impairment in Nigeria at over five million.
Speaking during an advocacy visit to the State Ministry of Information, Youth and Sports Development, Dr. Osadare said that recent statistics released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicated that 19 million children are suffering from vision impairment globally, emphasizing that one out of every four children have undetected vision problem that may impede their learning.
Osadare lamented that 80 percent of cases of blindness in Nigeria were avoidable, describing the result of a recent survey which revealed that about 90 percent of school age children in Nigeria had never undergone any form of eye examination as worrisome.
According to him, 12 million out of the 19 million estimated cases of visual impairment among children were as a result of refractive errors which could be corrected if detected early.
Dr. Osadare said NOA would hold free vision screening for children in selected school nationwide in commemoration of the 2017 World Sight Day as part of efforts at reducing the prevalence of vision impairment in the country.
Calling for the integration of eye health into the school curriculum and the primary healthcare delivery system across the country, Osadare said his association was already making arrangements to train teachers from different schools to enable them identify suspected cases of visual impairment among their pupils, so that the effected pupil could undergo proper test and commence treatment if necessary.
He also stressed the importance of undergoing annual comprehensive eye checkups to reduce avoidable vision loss.
Responding, the Commissioner for Information, Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Lanre Ogunsuyi who spoke through the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Mr. Kola Ajumobi noted that the programme of NOA was in tandem with the Health programme of the Governor Fayose led administration and the Oju Ayo Free Care in particular.
The Commissioner stressed the readiness of the State Government to therefore partner with the association in enlightening the public on issues relating to avoidable blindness and visual impairment.
