Coordinating
Minister of Health and Social Welfare,
Professor Muhammad Ali Pate CON has reiterated Federal
Government’s commitment to addressing vision impairment and blindness in
Nigerian children, stating that millions of children worldwide suffer from
untreated vision conditions, hindering
their education and future potential.
He stated this at the
stakeholders meeting as Nigeria joins the rest of the world to mark the World Sight Day with the theme ‘Love Your Eyes
Kids' held on 10th October,
2024 in Abuja.
According to him, “the
theme of this years’ campaign underscores our collective responsibility to
ensure that every child deserves to see the world with clarity and precision”
emphasizing that vision is a fundamental part of a child's overall health and
intellectual development.
Prof. Pate represented by
the Director, Special Projects, Dr. Charles Nzelu said that “addressing eye
health is vital for achieving various United Nations Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs), which includes quality
education, poverty eradication, enhanced health and well-being, gender equality and economic growth.
“Our collective action is
necessary to improve awareness and advocacy,
expand access to comprehensive eye care, integrate eye health into healthcare
systems and foster innovative solutions to increase access” he further adduced.
The Minister stated that part of governments' initiative and interventions to improve access to vision care across the country include but not limited to the integration of Primary Eye Care (PEC) into Primary Health Care (PHC) to ensure access to eye care services at the grassroot to all, including children; Effective Spectacular Coverage Initiative Nigeria (ESCIN) Jigibola 2.0 which has been officially launched and partnerships with other line Ministries like education, transport, private sector and media to achieve sustainable goals.
Cross Section of participants at the event to mark 2024 World Sight Day held on 10th October, 2024 in Abuja.
He
therefore urged parents, caregivers and teachers to identify with the
initiative which will impact millions of
children living with some form of sight challenges, adding that at least 450
million children have a sight condition and needs
treatment with 90 million living with some form of vision loss.
In
her goodwill message, representative of Christoffel Blenden Mission (CBM)
International, Angela Ujah, said that it is gratifying to know that
efforts are made towards providing much needed information and awareness on eye
health and making eye care services available,
accessible and affordable to Nigerians especially to Nigerian children.
Earlier,
the Permanent Secretary, Kachallom Daju MNI, represented by Dr. Oteri
Okolo Eme, National Coordinator, Eye
Health Programme stated that “the World Health Day serves as a powerful
platform to spotlight these challenges and to galvanise our efforts toward
effective solutions”
She
said that the theme is a poignant reminder of the vital role that vision plays in
the lives of children, “yet many children in Nigeria continue to suffer from
preventable vision impairment due to lack of awareness and access to essential eye
care services,” she posited.
Daju added that “we must work together to achieve the strategic objectives for eye health as clearly outlined in the National Eye Health Strategic Development Plan 2024-2028.”
Alaba
Balogun
Deputy
Director (Press &PR)
10/10/2024.