The Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) & Social Welfare and Lagos State Ministry of Health in collaboration with Onesight Essilorluxottica Foundation has recently flagged off the ‘Effective Spectacle Coverage Initiative Nigeria JIGI BOLA 2.0’ and Launch of the First Vision Centre in Alimosho General Hospital for increase access to eye care in the country.
Speaking during the event, Dr. Oteri Okolo, National Coordinator of the National Eye Health Programme (NEHP) said the initiative was put together to improve and ensure easy access to eye care in the country.
Okolo said the programme, which was an initiative of President Bola Tinubu and implemented by the Federal Ministry of Health, was tagged: “Jigi Bola 2.0: Let Nigerians See”.
According to Okolo, an Ophthalmologist, over 800 million people globally have refractive errors or vision impairments.
Furthermore, an estimated of over 400 billion dollars is lost every year in productivity as a result of poor vision and that is why the Federal Ministry of Health alongside the State Ministry of Health has partnered with Onesight to increase access to eyeglasses for all Nigerians who needs it in respective of their ages.
In a similar vein, Prof Akin Abayomi, the Lagos State Commissioner forHealth commended the initiative aimed at strengthening the state’s capacity for efficient eye care delivery at the grassroots.
The Commissioner, who was represented by Dr Ayodapo Soyinka, the Medical Director/CEO of the Alimosho General Hospital, Igando, said the collaboration between the FMOH, NEPH and Onesight would promote sustainable access to quality care within the health system.
He said, “Apart from the inauguration of the vision centre, the foundation also provided consumables to the hospital that will last for a year to make the service free for everyone with eye defects to access care.
Speaking also, Mr. Anurag Hans, the President of Onesight Essilorluxottica Foundation said the organisation was committed to solving the problem of various eye impairments globally.
<span;>Hans said that eye impairments are the largest disability in the world, noting that two-thirds of the world population could not see clearly.
“We plan to create this access to millions of Nigerians by the end of this year by working with our partners to prevent permanent vision loss in rural areas in Nigeria”, Hans said.