By Oluwaseyi Adeshina

As the world weekend marked 2017 World Sight Day, Ophthalmologist has disclosed that 80 percent of blindness could be prevented.

A Consultant Ophthalmologist at the MeCure Eye Centre, Mecure Health Care Limited, Oshodi, Lagos. Dr Kunle Alabi who made the disclosure during Me Cure’s free eye screening to celebrate this year’s World Sight Day noted that ignorance has led most people to total blindness while some are being ostracized for an ailment that could be treated.

‘We discover a lot of people are not aware that there is a proper and standard treatment for cataract. We see people being blind from cataract for several years and they are just kept in one room somewhere, ostracized from the community.

‘Sometimes when they now come to us we will wonder and they will be telling us they have been afflicted with it for five years and when they have the appropriate treatment they will start seeing then they will be excited.

That means they wasted four-five years of their life because that period that they were blind from cataract they were ostracized out of the society and some of them when they are treated it will be difficult for them to get reintegrated back into the society because they have be deprived of that opportunity and they’ve lost those period’ said Alabi.

Speaking, Group Head, Commercial and Strategy, Me Cure, Dr Adekunle Megbuwawon said to mark the World Sight Day, with the theme: “Make Vision Count”, Me Cure organised free eye screening for cataract, glaucoma, refractive error, diabetic retinopathy, allergy among others and over 100 individuals have been screened and a significant number of eye diseases have also been identified.

Megbuwawon  who advised Nigerians to go for regular eye check,  explained that the free eye screening was aimed at promoting good eye health as well as help in the reduction of the burden of avoidable blindness through the early detection of those common eye conditions that cause blindness.

He revealed that under the Me Cure preventive health care over 5000 people have registered for the raffle draw and 500 individual have won. They have been screened for nine lifestyle diseases at the comfort of their home.