Nigeria has pledged to expand access to eye care services for more than 25 million vulnerable citizens by 2030, a move designed to accelerate progress toward Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and enable broader participation in education, work, and community life. The commitment was announced on Tuesday at the Global Summit for Eye Health, an event hosted by the Government of Antigua and Barbuda and co-hosted by the governments of Bangladesh, Guyana, Ireland, and Nigeria, with technical collaboration from the World Health Organisation and convening by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB).
Under the new initiative, the Federal Government aims to fully integrate Primary Eye Care into Primary Health Care services nationwide to address the significant health and economic challenges posed by avoidable vision loss. Specific targets include training 10,000 primary health care workers in eye care, distributing five million pairs of ready-made reading spectacles, and providing 25,000 fully subsidised cataract surgeries. The plan also seeks to increase the active eye care workforce by 20% and raise Nigeria’s Effective Cataract Surgical Coverage by 30 percentage points by 2030.
The strategy prioritizes equitable access for women, older people, and underserved communities in rural and hard-to-reach areas. This effort builds on Nigeria’s existing eye health strategy, which acknowledges that an estimated 24 million Nigerians were living with vision loss and approximately 1.3 million were blind as of 2020. The commitment was jointly submitted by multiple partners, including Sightsavers and Christian Blind Mission, to strengthen frontline capacity and expand essential services.
“For too long eye health has been treated as a footnote in the global development conversation. We must alter that paradigm because vision care is an economic accelerator… We cannot eradicate poverty, we cannot ensure inclusive education, and we cannot foster sustainable economic growth if a billion people are left in the dark,” said George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
Economic analyses presented at the summit highlight the potential return on investment for these health interventions. According to the “Value of Vision” report, investing US$110 million in eye health in Nigeria could deliver US$2.45 billion in economic benefits by 2030. The analysis estimates that such investments could avert 13,590 cases of depression, prevent 56 traffic deaths, avoid 1,479 traffic injuries, and generate the equivalent of 70,641 additional years of learning.
Current collaborative projects are already demonstrating the impact of these efforts. The Focus on Clear Vision project, supported by Sightsavers and government partners in Kebbi, Jigawa, and Bauchi states, has screened more than 1.5 million children and teachers and distributed over 33,000 pairs of glasses to date. Additionally, Vision Spring is supporting the Federal Ministry of Health’s Jigi Bola initiative by providing training and affordable eyeglasses to help frontline health workers integrate reading glasses into primary healthcare delivery.
Peter Holland, CEO of the IAPB, described the summit as a defining moment for global eye health, noting that the package of commitments will help hundreds of millions of people participate fully in society. “It demonstrates growing recognition that investing in eye health is an investment in human potential, economic growth, and sustainable development,” Holland stated.
<small>Source: The Sun Nigeria — read the original story there.</small>
