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World Sight Day 2020

by admin on | 2024-03-07 23:02:33

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    When last did you have your eyes check?

    What are you doing in your community and state to support people who are blind?

    As the world marks 2020 world sight day today with the theme: Hope in sight; The Nigeria association of the Blind (NAB), the national association representing blind and partially sighted persons in Nigeria, urges everyone to take diligent care of the eye.

    In Nigeria, based on the National Blindness and Visual Impairment  Survey conducted in 2005 to 2007, more than 1.13 million individuals aged 40 years are currently blind,  further 2.7 million adults aged 40 years have moderate visual impairment and additional 400,000 adults are severely visually impaired. This huge population cannot be pushed aside, they must not be left behind in the scheme of things in the country.

    According to eye specialists, the major causes of vision reduction and lost include: Diseases like diabetes and trachoma, trauma to the eyes, or conditions such as refractive error, cataracts, age-related macular degeneration or glaucoma.

    People who are blind in Nigeria and most third world countries are going through daunting challenges ranging from daily personal activities, interacting with the community, school and work opportunities and the ability to access public services.

    Government must give every Nigerian, everywhere hope in sight by incorporating integrated eye care into the primary health system in the country.

    As we commemorate the world sight day 2020, we charge Nigerians to go for an eye check today.

    Support people who are blind in the country to live meaningfully in the following ways:

    Incorporate blindness inclusion and mainstreaming into national development plans, domesticate the Marrakesh Treaty to make reading text available in accessible format for students with visual impairment and provide employment to blind graduates.

    Importantly, government must make eye test a condition for admission into primary schools.
Once again, happy world sight day.