• As OAU research seeks attention for eyecare services in Obokun LGA 

By Sola Ogundipe

As part of the efforts to combat blindness in the country, Nigerians aged 40 years and above have been advised to go for regular eye checks once every year and to also consult qualified ophthalmologists for treatment when diagnosed with any eye disorder.

A Senior Lecturer in the Department of Ophthalmology, Obafemi Awolowo University  Teaching Hospital, OAU, Ile-Ife, Dr Bolajoko Abidemi Adewara, who made the call during a virtual media roundtable, said regular eye checks coupled with the availability of resources to treat persons with poor vision, were the most effective ways to combat vision problems.

Adewara said not less than 80 percent of blindness in Nigeria can be prevented or treated through health education on eye protection as well as screening.

“One of the ways we can combat blindness in the country is to ensure that health workers have the right training, the materials to test the eyes are available, and they must also be able to educate people about how to care for their eyes.

“Once all these are available, we can conduct community eye screening at the health centres within the communities and also at the school eye clinics, because there are already programmes that entail health workers going to the schools and they can utilise these platforms to educate them on how to protect their eyes.

“Refractive errors which you need glasses to see properly are very common and responsible for poor vision among school children and this can also be tackled. They can also carry out these tests to test their vision and follow-up.”

She said it is also important to know the facilities where people who have been identified with poor vision can be referred.

“So it is important to have the equipment to carry out the screening, then have the training and then carry out the screening and health education.

“Everybody should have eye screening at least once a year. Certain eye conditions like glaucoma and cataracts are more prevalent among people above 40 years.

“Anybody who is above 40 should contact the eye care worker and go for an eye test as a precaution. Once any important eye condition is identified, they should seek care at the nearest health facility.

“This is especially important to enable early detection of disorders such as glaucoma, which is called the “Silent Thief of Sight,” which can cause blindness without any noticeable symptoms and cannot be detected except when the eyes are checked for it.

“If you go for regular screening yearly, it can be picked early and treated to prevent blindness.”

Adewara described Dry  Eye, which she said is common in people above 40 years and in those with autoimmune diseases,  as an important eye condition that is underdiagnosed.

“Dry Eye is one of the most underdiagnosed and undertreated eye conditions because it has many symptoms, and unless you meet an expert, the tendency is that it may be missed.  The expertise in diagnosing it is not very common. Even though it is called dry eye, one of the symptoms is watery eyes, so it is necessary to see a qualified ophthalmologist because the symptoms are contradictory to the name.

“The good news is that the treatment is simple and readily available. Once diagnosis has been made, it is only to apply artificial tears to augment the natural tears of the body.”

In her research work titled “Assessment of Resources Available for Integrated Primary Eye Care in Obokun Local Government Area, Nigeria,” Adewara noted that the study aimed to find out what was required to carry out health education and eye checks in the locality.

“Our findings showed that there were  40 health centers of different cadres in Obokun LGA, and they also had 107 health workers though the distribution of health centres and workers tilted more towards the urban areas.

“We found out that even though there were health centres close to the people, they did not have enough drugs for eye care, and lacked adequate equipment to do eye screenings. Also, the health workers did not understand how to do the screenings.

In a call for the integration of health education on eye protection into the routine health programme, Adewara called on the Federal government to ensure the sustainability of the National Policy on blindness prevention. 

“To reduce the volume of blindness in the country, there is a need for a national programme that would be embedded in the primary healthcare structure in individual LGAs to create a sustainable framework to prevent blindness in the country as a whole.

“There should be enough training in eyecare, and there should be at least one ophthalmic nurse in Obokun LGA which is the minimum requirement by the  World Health Organisation, WHO. Such a person can supervise the basic eyecare in the LGA

“In addition, at least one health worker in each centre needs to understand how to check for vision challenges in the patients and also to know what to do. They need to know the basic things about how to care for persons with eye problems, more so that there are community services available which is a good structure to integrate eye checks in the community, such as immunisation services, although we noticed there was no immunisation for rubella.

“They could also screen the pregnant mothers and the  lack of drugs and other basic antibiotics can be prescribed before referral so they can start treatment early to reduce blindness

“To reduce the volume of blindness in the country, there is a need for a national programme that would be embedded in the primary healthcare structure in individual LGAs to create a sustainable framework to prevent blindness in the country as a whole.

Among other recommendations, she said there was an opportunity to expand available services in the community to accommodate eye care.