The Federal government has commences campaign to sensitize the public about glaucoma, the importance of regular eye check-ups, offer screening and spectacles when necessary..
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako made the disclosure during the commemoration of the 2025 World Glaucoma Week (WGW) held in Abuja on Monday.
The Minister said ” WGW is a global initiative of the World Glaucoma Association, and the World Glaucoma Patient Association designed to raise awareness on glaucoma directed at patients, policymakers, eye-care service providers and the public. WGW is an annual event held every second week of March.
Speaking on the theme for this year is “Uniting for a Glaucoma World; See the Future Clearly” the Minister explained that the goal is to emphasize the importance of regular eye checks and early diagnosis of this largely asymptomatic and devastating disease, thus preserving the vision of those affected. World Glaucoma Week and screening shine a light that catches this silent thief of sight early, hopefully stopping it in its tracks and preventing it from making away with vision by instituting vision conserving management for a brighter future.
” Glaucoma is an eye condition in which the optic nerve is progressively and irreversibly damaged resulting to loss of peripheral vision in the beginning, and blindness at advanced stages.
“Glaucoma is reported to affect an estimated 60.5 million people worldwide, about 87% of which are living in developing countries. The Nigerian blindness and visual impairment survey 2005-2007 reported that over 4.2% of the Nigerian population were blind; 16.7% was due to glaucoma.
“The risks factors associated with glaucoma include African ancestry which means virtually all Nigerians are at risk and increasing age (over 40years). Recent studies are reporting an earlier onset of the disease and a more severe course in persons of African descent. Additional risk factors include family history of glaucoma, elevated eye pressure, medical conditions that predisposes a person to glaucoma such as Diabetes and hypertension, refractive errors, eye injuries, thin corneas and prolonged use of corticosteroid eye drops.
Dr. Salako outlined that the ministry is keenly aware of this data, the specific factors that put Nigerians at risk of vision loss amongst others, has worked assiduously over the years by supporting and implementing targeted screening, public awareness programs, advocacy, improving patient journey through the health system, leverage technology and setting research priorities to improve patient outcomes.
He said “This week, we aim to educate the public about glaucoma, the importance of regular eye check-ups, offer screening and spectacles where required.
“The Ministry, following a rigorous and collaborative process developed and launched the National Glaucoma Screening and Treatment Guidelines. These guidelines have been distributed to all states of the federation and the FCT. The document provides clinical and programmatic guidance for screening and management of glaucoma. Guidance on the setting up of patient support groups that put the patient at the centre of their care, improves access, increase adherence to lifelong management and improve their empowerment and social connections for improved outcomes is an important feature.
“Evidence has shown that individuals with impaired vision generally and particularly persons with glaucoma have difficulty with performance of daily tasks at home and at work, thus vision loss from refractive errors that can be corrected by a simple pair of glasses.
To tackle this the FMOH&SW through the National Eye Health Programme (NEHP) is implementing on behalf of Mr President, the Effective Spectacle Coverage Initiative Nigeria (ESCIN) also known as JigiBola 2.0. The initiative aims to provide free vision screening and distribute 5 million pairs of reading glasses free to Nigerians in the next 3 years.
“The system strengthening arm of the presidential initiative (Jigibola 2.0) has facilitated the integration of Primary Eye Care (PEC) into the Primary Health Care (PHC) System by empowering PHC workers in 15 states with the knowledge and skill to manage simple eye care conditions including dispensing of simple reading glasses, offer first aid and eye health education using the National Primary Eye Care Trainer and Trainee manuals. This PEC integration further aims to improve the referral system between the 4 levels of health care—community, primary, secondary and tertiary levels.
“As part of this initiative and efforts of the FMOH&SW and partners, over 3000 PHC workers from 682 primary health care facilities in 182 LGAs of the 15 States have been trained on PEC and equipped with the PEC trainee manuals as well as clinical guides, diagnostic kits, pairs of eye glasses to be dispensed free including data collection and reporting tools. The Ministry believes that the integration of PEC into PHC will potentially change the pattern of eye care services in Nigeria such that blindness prevention efforts including for glaucoma start from the grassroots and rural areas where the populations are most at risk instead of only at secondary and tertiary hospitals in urban areas. “
The Minister noted that these initiatives will no doubt accelerate our journey towards achieving Universal Health Coverage and ultimately the Sustainable Development Goals by improving the opportunities for Nigerians to attend their educational needs, improve productivity at workplaces and increase the overall quality of life through improved vision.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry said ” as we commemorate World Glaucoma Week, I urge each one of you to take action. Schedule a routine comprehensive eye exam, encourage your loved ones to do the same, and spread the word about the importance of early detection. Together, we can make a difference and help prevent vision loss caused by glaucoma.
“Many of us have close family or friends who were diagnosed with glaucoma at a late stage. The impact on their vision and life is often significant, and a stark reminder of how crucial early detection is. This experience should fuel our passion for raising awareness about this condition and advocating for regular eye check-ups.”
