’24m Nigerians are blind’

David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences, Uburu, Ebonyi  (DUFUHS) says nary less than 24 cardinal Nigerians are presently surviving with show loss.

Prof. Jesse Uneke, the Vice-Chancellor of the institution, made this known during a media engagement connected the activities of its Ultramodern Eye Centre and Institute for Eye Health, Visual Sciences Research (Invest).

The media engagement took spot connected Thursday successful Uburu, Ohaozara Local Government Area of the state.

Uneke further explained that, according to the findings from the Nigeria National Blindness and Visual Impairment Survey, astir 4.2% of Nigerians implicit 40 years aged are blind.

The Professor of Medical Parasitology & Health Policy/Health Systems added that an estimated 4.25 cardinal adults aged 40 and supra endure from mean to terrible ocular impairment.

 “84% of blindness successful Nigeria is owed to preventable causes, stressing the request for regular oculus checks, nationalist consciousness and affordable treatment.

 “Blindness successful Nigeria is associated with expanding age, being pistillate and mediocre literacy. Sadly, 84% of blindness cases are owed to avoidable causes.

 “Cataracts and uncorrected refractive errors are the starring causes of ocular impairment successful the country, but conditions specified arsenic glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, infectious oculus diseases, and trauma besides airs important challenges,” Uneke said.

The vice-chancellor stressed that constricted entree to basal oculus attraction successful low-and middle-income countries similar Nigeria worsened the load of show loss, peculiarly for agrarian dwellers.

 “To code the crisis, our school, with enactment from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), has established the Ultramodern Eye Centre and IEHVSR.

“This is simply a state-of-the-art installation for research, grooming and diligent care.

 “Through its Free Eye Care Initiative, the assemblage has already provided escaped attraction to 2,412 patients since February 2025.

“This includes implicit 1,300 radical with refractive errors and much than 600 with cataracts, portion distributing 1,000 eyeglasses.

Uneke explained that the beneficiaries comprised 918 men, 1,302 women and 192 children.

“The programme is portion of DUFUHS’s mandate connected research, grooming and assemblage development,” Uneke explained.

 He added that the facility, supported by TETFund, was established to code Nigeria’s rising load of ocular impairment and blindness, which presently affects an estimated 24 cardinal people.

The vice-chancellor stated that DUFUHS escaped Eye Care Initiative had drastically reduced avoidable blindness and provided an accidental for training, probe and diligent care.

 “From February to date, we person treated 2,412 persons—1,352 for refractive errors, 627 for cataracts, 168 for glaucoma, and 265 for different conditions.

“We besides gave retired 400 speechmaking glasses and 600 medicine glasses escaped of charge,” Uneke stated.

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