As the world marks World Sight Day, Sightsavers has called for better access to eye health services for everyone, especially children.
Sightsavers made the call in a press release to mark World Sight Day 2024, with the theme ‘Children, love your eyes’.
According to Sightsavers, the day is an opportunity to debunk myths regarding vision and move towards a world where all children are free from social stigma associated with wearing spectacles or other corrective interventions for their eyes and vision.
The organization believes that eye health services should be accessible, available and affordable for all children.
Dr Joy Shu’aibu, Country Director at Sightsavers observed that, “two thirds of children and adults who require glasses to help them see do not have access to these glasses. The same can be said of other eye conditions like cataracts, (a condition children can be born with) where a significant proportion of people, especially those living in rural communities, are unable to get the treatment they need.”
Globally, some 1.1 billion people have untreated or preventable visual impairments. In Nigeria, the numbers are shocking. A 2020 estimate revealed some 24 million people with vision loss. Of these, 1.3 million are blind or have moderate to severe vision impairments resulting from cataracts or refractive errors.
Despite these shocking statistics, eye health remains a neglected area of healthcare, and people are struggling unnecessarily with avoidable blindness and vision impairment.
Vision problems don’t just affect the elderly.
Everyone, at some point, needs support to maintain good eye health – to see the board at school, to drive, to work, and for independence later in life.
This year’s World Sight Day, Sightsavers is supporting several activities under the Plateau Inclusive Eye Health Programme. A comprehensive eye health initiative in Jos and Shendam will include screenings for up to 700 pupils, eye health education for teachers, and the provision of glasses.
Roadshows and media engagements will raise awareness at state and local levels. There will be visits to the Ministry of Education and the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB). Health promotion officers will lead community campaigns, advocating to traditional rulers and local institutions.
Additionally, a medical and surgical outreach is planned for Quanpan, in collaboration with the State government and partners.
Dr Shu’aibu, continued: “These events celebrate the achievements made and raise awareness on the eye health crisis we face globally and in Nigeria.
“We have made great progress to meet the challenges, with governments, donors, decision-makers, NGOs, and other partners collaborating to improve access to quality and affordable eye health services for everyone. But big changes are still needed to make avoidable vision impairment truly avoidable.”
Citing research results, Sightsavers notes that addressing the world’s eye health issues would cost just a sixteenth of the annual global productivity loss due to visual impairment. For example, having the right glasses could help people increase their earnings by a third, in turn boosting the economy. Yet, most people don’t have access to the glasses they need, and children with vision impairment in low- and middle-income countries are up to five times less likely to be in formal education, impacting their future prospects.
Dr Joy Shu’aibu concludes: “Many eye health interventions can be relatively small or straightforward, yet the impact can be life-changing.”
In Nigeria and around the world people are gathering colleagues, friends, or items from work or home together to form as big an eye shape as they can and sharing their #EyeCreation on social media, because we need big changes to address the global inequity of eye health.