Bright future

• Ultra-modern eye centre berths at DUFUHS

From Uchenna Inya, Abakaliki

Eye issues are remarkably common in the society. It is a well-known fact that those who live long enough will experience at least one eye condition during their lifetime.

In Nigeria, an estimated 24 million people are believed to have sight loss. The Nigeria national blindness and visual impairment survey estimates that 4.2% of people over 40 years old are blind.

It was also estimated that 4.25 million adults aged 40 years and above have moderate to severe visual impairment or blindness.

Mrs. Nwifuru and Prof Uneke during flag off of the eye centre

The report said that blindness was associated with increasing age, being female, and poor literacy. It was noted in the report that 84% of blindness was due to avoidable causes.

Many people in Nigeria are unable to access basic eye care, leaving them at an increased risk of visual impairment and disability.

•Some other eye patients waiting for the free eye treatment in the university

According to the World Health Organization, globally, at least one billion people have a near or distance vision impairment that could have been prevented or has yet to be addressed.

In the absence of timely detection, reduced or absent eyesight can have long-term personal and economic effects. Vision impairment affects people of all ages, with the majority being over the age of 50.

•Mrs. Uzoamaka Emmanuel with the 5 year old daughter

Young children with early onset severe vision impairment can experience lower levels of educational achievement, and in adults it often affects quality of life through lower productivity, decreased workforce participation and high rates of depression.

Vision impairment and blindness impact the life of people everywhere. In low- and middle-income countries, including Nigeria, the burden of vision impairment can be even greater due to fewer opportunities to access the most essential eye care services.

Cataracts and uncorrected refractive errors are estimated to be the leading causes of vision impairment. However, other causes for vision impairment cannot be ignored. Age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, long standing systemic conditions like diabetes causing diabetic retinopathy, infectious diseases of the eye and trauma to the eye are all causes for vision impairment that need to be addressed.

Many people in Nigeria are unable to access basic eye care, leaving them at an increased risk of visual impairment and disability.

Mrs. Emmanuel Uzoamaka from Umunaga Uburu, Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State,  has been searching for solution to the eye issues of her five year old daughter, Amarachi.

Amarachi was born with the eye issues. The woman had obstructed labour which forced her baby out of the place she supposed to be to a place that affected the baby’s eyes and she was born with the eye condition.

The eye condition affected the girl’s brain, forcing her mother to be moving for one health facility to another to find a lasting solution to the child’s eye problems.

The woman was among those who came to David Umahi Federal University Health Sciences(DUFUHS) last week when the ultra-modern eye centre in the hospital was flagged off by wife of Ebonyi State governor, Mrs. MaryMaudline Nwifuru, during which hundreds of  eye patients from different places  received free treatments.

Mrs. Emmanuel told Daily Sun that the strange behavior of  Amarachi as a result of her eye condition was disturbing her so much.

She expressed the hope that she will find permanent solution to the girl’s eye issues in DUFUHS and commended the university for the free eye service.

She said “I heard about this free eye treatment in our community. A town crier used public address system and announced it in our community and I decided to come to DUFUHS to know if it is real.

“There is a place I went and doctor told me that obstructed labour caused this eye issue my daughter is having. The doctor said that the baby came out where it was supposed to be in the womb and stayed where it was not supposed to be when I was in labour and the blood that usually come out during labour, met the baby there and this caused her the eye issues when she was born.

“She can’t see very well since five years she was born and the doctor told me that the thing affected her brain and that it is why she acts very strangely always. My daughter’s behaviour sometimes is frustrating and I always cry about it.

“Now that I have come to this place, I feel that it is the best place I can get solution to her eye problem because of the facilities they have. In October this year, she will be six years.”

Another eye patient, Favour Sunday Offo, 25, said her own problem also started from childhood and that her parents have been taking her to different hospitals for treatment and care since she was born.

“I have eye problems, mostly during dry season. I am here to know if they can treat me. When I was a child, my parents took me to the hospital and doctors told me that it is only during dry season that I will be having the eye problem which is caused by dust.

“So, during harmattan season, that’s when I used to have this eye problem. I usually scratch my eyes during this particular season and they will swell up. I will be happy if the university can give me free treatment and free eye glasses for it.

“My parents have spent much on this my eye problem. I can’t quantify the amount that has been spent on this my eye issues because it is enormous,” she stated.

Another eye patient, Mrs. Evelyn Agwu, also said that she has gone to some hospitals for solution to her problem to no avail, forcing her to come to the university when she heard about the free eye services.

Her words: ”I came to this university because of the eye pains that I am having. I can’t see clearly because of it, I can’t just see very well.

“This problem started in 2022 and I went to a hospital in Abakaliki, the state capital, and doctor told me that I have cataract and asked me to come back to the hospital.

“When I went back to the hospital, the doctor told me to go and bring my parents or my sister to stay with me in the hospital and he attended to me.

“After sometime, I start having the same issues that took me to the hospital; the problem didn’t stop. The thing is still paining me and it is even more serious now.”

Dr.Perenye Ugbe, one of the ophthalmologists in the university, who attended to the eye patients, said the university attended to a lot of the patients during the flag off of the eye centre.

“We touch a lot of areas in eye problems. We touch those that need glasses, we also touch those that pathological problem and we have some opthalmologist to see them.

“We have theaters for those that needs surgery. We handle surgical cases here. We are starting this flag off of the eye center with 300 patients but as time goes on, we can increase our capacity,” she sated.

Speaking during the event, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Jesse Uneke, described the facility as  a state-of-the-arts and that it operates with a multi-disciplinary team or experts that specialize in conducting research and training on eye related issues, and caring for people with eye disease.

He noted that the  primary objectives of the DUFUHS eye centre which is a Centre of Excellence for Eye Research, Training and Patient Care, are enhance accessibility to eye care services especially to rural community dwellers in Ebonyi State, increase awareness about the importance of regular eye examinations, provide affordable eye care solutions for individuals with limited financial resources, and develop sustainable strategies to ensure long-term access to eye care services.

“The DUFUHS Eye Centre aligns with the World Health Organization’s global initiative known as SPECS 2030.  The WHO SPECS 2030 initiative envisions a world in which everyone who needs error intervention has access to quality, affordable and people-centred refractive error services.

“The initiative calls for coordinated global action amongst all stakeholders across 5 strategic pillars, to address the key challenges to improving refractive error coverage.

“The five pillars include: (1). Improve access to refractive services (2). Build capacity of personnel to provide refractive services (3). Improve population education (4). Reduce the cost of refractive services (5). Strengthen surveillance and research.

“The Centre will undertake cutting-edge research into eye diseases with latest technologies and advance evidence-based practice. The Centre will undertake regular blindness and visual impairment surveillance at state, regional and national levels to generate scientific information on eye diseases which will inform policy and practice and lead to improvement on the understanding of how to address eye related diseases in Nigeria”, he said

Flagging  off the  ultra-modern eye centre, Mrs. Nwifuru  described health care services as  bedrock of a sound society. She said her foundation,  Better Health For Rural Women, Children and Internally Displaced Persons, (BERWO), collaborated with the University to begin life-changing initiative that will address eye challenges.

She said: “Going forward, BERWO will utilize the centre in tackling eye challenges faced by individuals in rural communities by providing free screening, prescription glasses, medication, and even surgical interventions where necessary. Through this collaboration, we intend to reach out to those in need of eye care especially the indigents. This centre serves as our commitment to quality health care and treatment for the people.

“My sincere appreciation goes to the Vice Chancellor of David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences, Prof. Jesse Uneke for establishing this ultra-modern health centre with state-of-the-art technology in the treatment of patients and eye research.

“The center’s launch coincides with a free eye cleaning treatment program, which is part of my pet project, BERWO’s program for the year. This initiative aims to reach out to those in need and demonstrate the government’s commitment to quality healthcare.”

She expressed the hope that the ultra-modern eye centre would serve the purpose for which it was established to ensure quality healthcare in the state and the  country in general.