Lagos Gives Free Eye Treatment to 25,781
The Lagos State government has carried out free eye surgery on 25,781 patients since the commencement of its Blindness Prevention Programme.
Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, who disclosed this at a news conference to commemorate the World Glaucoma Day in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, added that over 322,251 people in various councils have been screened for eye-related ailments.
He said that out of this figure, 122,498 received free eye glasses, saying that government was always ready to meet the needs and yearnings of the people and ensured that they did not suffer unnecessarily.
On the World Glaucoma Day, the commissioner, whose speech was read by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Femi Olugbile, described glaucoma as an eye disease affecting the optic nerve leading to progressive and irreversible loss of vision.
“Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness worldwide and the leading cause of irreversible blindness in sub-Saharan Africa and Nigeria. Glaucoma affects 67 million people in the world, 10 percent of whom are blind.
“Glaucoma affects one in 200 people, aged 40 and below and one in 10 people over the age of 80 years. Glaucoma cannot be cured but it can be managed well. Vision loss from Glaucoma cannot be prevented but blindness arising from Glaucoma can be prevented by early diagnosis and careful management,†he stated.
According to him, if Glaucoma was not treated, it can damage the optic nerve thereby causing loss of vision or eventual blindness.
Idris said the state government, in its quest to detect and also treat preventable causes of blindness, had established eye services at each level of
—Kazeem Ugbodaga
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