FG trains eye health professionals in glaucoma care

The Federal Government on Friday commenced the training of eye health professionals nationwide in its Glaucoma Guideline and Toolkit.

Speaking at the launch of the training, the National Coordinator of the National Eye Health Programme at the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Dr Okolo Oteri, said that the guideline was developed for the programmatic and clinical management of glaucoma.

Glaucoma is an eye disorder that causes visual impairment as a result of its effect on the optical nerves that take pictures from the eye to the brain due to what is known as Intraocular Pressure.

Oteri stated, “The Nigeria Blindness and Vision Impairment Survey reported that 0.78 per cent of Nigerians of all ages are blind. Blindness increased significantly with illiteracy and age, with 1.13 million (4.2 per cent) Nigerians over 40 years blind.

“Glaucoma was the second most common cause of blindness, with a prevalence of five per cent and accounting for 16.7 per cent of the burden of blindness with only 5.6 per cent knowing they had the disease, while 20 per cent were already blind.”

The ophthalmologist, however, noted that glaucoma was not one of the priority diseases for the Vision 2020 initiative in lower and middle-income countries due to the high prevalence of other avoidable blinding diseases like cataracts, onchocerciasis, trachoma and childhood blindness including Vitamin A deficiency.

“In spite of the annual commemoration globally and in Nigeria of a global week, glaucoma has received low support from local and international donors and much less concerted government ownership.

“Collective action, including integrated patient-focused care, is therefore required to tackle glaucoma, a chronic but treatable condition which requires lifelong treatment and follow-up,” she added.

On her part, a consultant ophthalmologist at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital and a contributor to the document, Dr Fatima Kyari, said the toolkit was developed to cater to both clinical and programmatic needs of the patients.

The guideline was officially launched in 2023 by the First Lady, Mrs Oluremi Tinubu, alongside two other documents to enhance eye health in Nigeria.