The National Eye Centre, Kaduna, has taken its World Sight Day campaign to the Kaduna Geographic Information Service (KADGIS) with free eye screening for staff and members of the public.
Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the Centre, Dr Hassan Wali, said on Wednesday that World Sight Day is celebrated globally on the second Thursday of October to raise awareness on eye health.
Dr Wali said the day is set aside to sensitise the public on the importance of sight, noting that most people have achieved their status in life through education made possible by good vision.
She said while many Nigerians go for general medical check-up, they hardly check their eyes, adding that some only discover they have lost vision in one eye during hospital examination.
“There are certain diseases that affect the eye like diabetes and hypertension which were associated with ageing before, but now we are seeing a new trend,” he said.
The CMD said the Centre chose KADGIS for this year’s outreach to appreciate the Kaduna State Government and Governor Uba Sani for his intervention on the Centre’s land and for donating a bus to the institution.
He said the theme of this year’s celebration, ‘Love Your Eyes’, was apt, urging Nigerians to take care of their eyes to live longer.
On extending the campaign to rural areas, Wali said the Centre has lined up radio programmes in English, Hausa and other major languages, in collaboration with allied eye health workers in local governments and the Kaduna State Eye Care Programme.
He said the allied workers can carry out basic screening in communities and refer complicated cases to bigger hospitals.
In his lecture, Head of Oculoplastic Unit of the Centre, Dr Ameen K. Sulaiman, said cancer can affect every part of the eye.
Sulaiman listed some of the cancers to include ocular squamous cell neoplasia, Kaposi’s sarcoma, melanoma and retinoblastoma, a childhood cancer.
He said Nigeria accounts for over 30 to 35 per cent of retinoblastoma cases in Africa, and called for more government support for treatment of paediatric eye cancers.
The ophthalmologist added that HIV has also made people more prone to eye cancers, with many patients presenting with sudden loss of vision and swelling of the eye.
In his remarks, Director of Land Services, KADGIS, Abdullahi Tukur, who represented the Director-General, said the exercise was timely and informative.
Tukur said KADGIS is the only Ministry, Department and Agency (MDA) in Kaduna State where over 90 per cent of staff use laptops for eight to nine hours daily, a development he said affects eyesight.
He said knowledge gained on preventive measures would help improve staff efficiency.
rtment, commended the Centre for the outreach, saying the screening, which included blood sugar and blood pressure checks, was a privilege for many staff who hardly have time to visit hospitals.