By: Joshua Weng Chuwang
At least 24 million Nigerians are living with one form of sight loss or another. This is according to Professor Jesse Uneke, the Vice Chancellor of the David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences (DUFUHS), who is a Medical Parasitologist and Health Policy/Systems expert.
He made the revelation during a press briefing at the unveiling of the university’s Free Eye Care Initiative and Eye Research Programme in the Institute for Eye Health and Visual Sciences Research (IEHVSR) in Ebonyi State.
The Vice Chancellor noted that 4.2 percent of Nigerians above 40 years are blind, while 4.25 million adults in the same age range suffer from moderate to severe visual impairment.
“Blindness in Nigeria is strongly associated with increasing age, female gender, and poor literacy levels. Unfortunately, the majority of these cases could have been avoided,” he said.
He lamented the 84 percent of cases of blindness that are preventable and often linked to cataracts, uncorrected refractive errors, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, infections, and trauma.
He explained that DUFUHS, with the support of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), has established an ultra-modern Eye Centre to address this issue.
The Vice Chancellor reaffirmed the University’s commitment to continuous investments in research, training, and community service, in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda to improve healthcare in the country.
