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Health

Optometrists urge establishment of eye centres in Primary Healthcare Centres

PHCs

By Lydia Ngwakwe
Lagos, Oct. 16, 2018 (NAN) The Lagos Chapter of the Nigerian Optometric Association (NOA) says there is need for Lagos State Government (LASG) to establish eye care centres at its upgraded Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) across the state.

According to the association, this step will help to ensure that people, especially those at the grassroots have access to good eye care.

The State Chairman of NOA, John Samssedi made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos.

“The primary healthcare centres will not be useful without having an eye care personnel on board.

“Government said it has revamped 73 out of the 300 PHCs in Lagos State; however, it will not be useful if it is revamped without having an eye care personnel on board.

“Currently there are about nine engaged on locum basis; so if they can increase it, it will be great.’’

Samssedi said:“If they can have more internship programmes for the General Hospitals and have more optometrists engaged at the primary healthcare level, then we will indeed be taking eye care to the grassroots.

“This is because it is not just dealing with the elite alone who can take care of themselves but about an average Nigerian.

“We are talking about Nigerians living in Ikorodu, Igbogbo, Epe and the likes, who may not be able to access the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) and other secondary facilities because of the crowd and time.’’

He said the centres should also be fully equipped with doctors to treat people for any kind of sickness and at an affordable bill.

Samssedi also urged governments to improve on the welfare of doctors as Nigerian doctors were willing to work if well taken care of.

He said that most of the time when doctors have had to go on strike, it had been to press home their demands for the interest of the masses and save the healthcare delivery system from malfunctioning.

He commended the state government for putting structures on ground for a better healthcare system, but urged it to take further steps and improve on what is currently on ground. (NAN)
LED/VIV/PDE
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(Editing by Vivian Ihechu/Peter Ejiofor)

Health

World Sight Day: Mothers’ lifestyle can affect baby’s eye sight, says Optometrist

 

Glaucoma

By Lydia Ngwakwe and Esenvosa Izah

Lagos, Oct. 11, 2018 (NAN) The Lagos State Chapter of the Nigeria Optometric Association (NOA) said on Thursday that observing a healthy lifestyle and diet during pregnancy will help unborn babies against developing eye diseases at birth.

Dr John Samssedi, Chairman of the association, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

He spoke as the world marks the 2018 World Sight Day with the theme:  “Call to Action‘ as Eye Care Everywhere’’.

Samssedi said: “Mothers have direct responsibilities as regards the health of their babies.

“Mothers must ensure that they attend antenatal classes where they will get proper information on the right food to eat and drugs to take during pregnancy.

“Some mothers drink and smoke a lot when they are pregnant; some even go as far as taking some kind of hard drugs.

“These are very detrimental to the baby’s health and development; the eyes of the baby can also be affected.

“When mothers are advised properly and they adhere strictly to those instructions, you find out that their babies come out healthy,’’ the expert said.

According to him, after doing all that, there are still some children that still present with certain kinds of conditions at birth.

“For instance, you can have conditions of birth canal where it was not too healthy and the child comes out with conditions like childhood cataract or glaucoma.

“Childhood glaucoma is an unusual eye diseases and significant cause of childhood blindness, childhood glaucoma is also hereditary,’’ Samssedi said.

The optometrist said that glaucoma was on the increase.

He said: “Many people assume that they are okay without going for examination and their eye challenges and pains degenerate.

“Glaucoma is a group of diseases that affect the optic disc behind the eye and can get worse overtime, if not prevented.

“There are five cardinal tests that one needs to do to know if the condition is glaucoma; they include the Ophthalmoscope, Visual field test, Pachymetry, Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) and the Tonometry.”

Samssedi said that an in-depth examination would entail checking the structure of the eyes including the cornea, lens, as well as the retina  and this could take up to 30 minutes.(NAN)

LED/EEI/VIV/GOK

Edited by Vivian Ihechu/Olagoke Olatoye

Health

33% C/River children have visual problems – Optometrists

33% C/River children have visual problems – Optometrists
By Christian Njoku
Eye
Calabar, May 27, 2018 (NAN) The Nigeria Optometric Association (NOA) has said that 33 per cent of children in Cross River have visual defects.
The state Chairman of the association, Dr Onyebuchi Ndukwe, made the disclosure at this year’s outreach programme tagged “Save the sight of the child’’ on Saturday in Calabar.
Ndukwe said the programme was a continuation of the 2017 intervention titled “My sight, My right’’.
“We are looking at ages 5 to 14, at that age, most children are in school and you know that we cannot separate vision from academics; poor vision can lead to poor academic performance.
“The state government had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Brian Holding Vision Institute which would last for two years and the Nigeria Optometric Association is part of that agreement,” he said.
Ndukwe however said his association’s major challenge was reaching children in rural areas.
“Most of our members are based in Calabar and you know the distance between one local government and the other in the state.
“We are advocating for the employment of optometrists in the state civil service who will serve at the local government level to bridge the gap,’’ he said.
An optometrist, Dr Bernardine Ekpeyong, said a current research published by Ekpeyong et al, 2017, showed that refractive errors, conjunctivitis, cataract and glaucoma are some of the major eye defects affecting children in the state.
Ekpeyong revealed that out of the 33 per cent of the children with various eye defects in the state, 11 per cent would need glasses.
She also said that they discovered that 95 per cent of the children in the state had never had eye examination in their lives and that is what they were preaching against.
“We are pushing for physical eye examination for children before school entry because that way, we are sure that any problem would be detected early, early detection is very important for prevention of blindness.
“We target children to prevent amblyopia which becomes a condition when children are not given glasses early enough to correct their sight, thereby making the defect irreversible later in life,” she said.
The expert identified poverty and ignorance as major problems in the fight as most parents were either too poor or did not see the need to take their children to a hospital when there are complaints.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Inyang Asibong, noted that the state had a vision to make sure that children did not have visual disabilities that were preventable or could be treated.
According to Asibong, the outreach will help check the major eye defects that children encountered and glasses would be given to those in need of glasses.
She said those whose cases could not be handled during the outreach would be referred to the State Eye Care Programme to be treated free at the College of Health Technology.
“We are collaborating with other ministries and departments, and would work with the existing eye care programme in the state to make sure that every child in Cross River is captured and the intervention is sustained,’’ she said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the outreach was organised by the Ministry of Women Affairs in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the Nigeria Optometric Association, Calabar branch. (NAN)
CBN/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola