Tinubu approves five million pairs of eyeglasses for Nigerians

In order to give more than five million pairs of eyeglasses to Nigerians with vision impairments, President Bola Tinubu has approved a cooperation between the Peek Vision Foundation and the National Eye Health Programme of the Federal Ministry of Health.

Andrew Bastawrous, the CEO of the foundation and co-founder of the Vision Catalyst Fund, paid Tinubu a courtesy visit on Friday in Abuja.

The President claimed that his personal experience with visual health had encouraged him to endorse the project.

He described how his mother was given spectacles and was able to see perfectly once more. He also asked him how other people in her situation would fare if they were left alone.

“My mother, may she rest in peace, was the source of my first encounter. She was in poor health and failed to acknowledge me. She received treatment and a set of glasses when I interfered, the president was reported as saying in a statement released by his spokeswoman, Ajuri Ngelale.

“She then questioned me, saying, “I have you, and you can do this for me. What about those other mothers who might not have someone like you to step in and help them?

“So, because of that question my mother asked me and because of her desire for seeing others healed, I made a commitment to her that I would strongly pursue the widespread availability of eye care and that I would offer free eye exams and procedures to individuals.

Millions of people in Lagos eventually had their eye health affected by our efforts, and you could see the excitement on their faces when they received a pair of glasses and noticed an improvement in their vision right away.

Further, Tinubu declared that he would support the project and urge the recruitment of further commitment to carry it through and assist disadvantaged people all around our nation.

The President said, “Some parents may not pay attention to this, but I will because I am touched.”

Speaking as well, Bastawrous noted that eye care was still “chronically under-resourced” in many nations, noting that estimates for Nigeria revealed that eye care received just 0.0002% of the nation’s total health spending.

The good news is that President Tinubu has a great staff in the health sector, and some of them have shown incredible leadership in the field, he was reported as adding. In order to assist Nigeria in gaining access to resources from many sources, we would like to offer to bring our Peek Vision technique and platform there.

“In the nations where we have worked, Peek in Botswana liberated $10 million and in Kenya, €17 million for the education programmes. We have received a donation of 200 million pairs of glasses through the Vision Catalyst Fund, and we would like a sizable number of those to go to Nigeria.