Follow Us on Google
The Federal Government has unveiled an ambitious plan to expand access to eye care services to more than 25 million vulnerable Nigerians by 2030, with a commitment to distribute five million pairs of reading glasses, provide 25,000 fully subsidised cataract surgeries and train 10,000 primary healthcare workers to tackle avoidable blindness and other forms of vision impairment.
The initiative, announced at the Global Summit for Eye Health in Antigua and Barbuda, is part of efforts to integrate eye care into Nigeria’s primary healthcare system and accelerate progress towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC), particularly among women, older persons and residents of rural and underserved communities.
The commitment comes against the backdrop of figures indicating that an estimated 24 million Nigerians were living with vision loss in 2020, including approximately 1.3 million who were blind, underscoring the scale of the country’s eye health challenge and the need to expand access to preventive and corrective services.
Under the programme, the Federal Government and its development partners will integrate Primary Eye Care (PEC) into Primary Health Care (PHC) services nationwide, increase the active eye care workforce by 20 per cent and raise Nigeria’s effective cataract surgical coverage by 30 percentage points before 2030.
The announcement was made at the Global Summit for Eye Health, hosted by the Government of Antigua and Barbuda and co-hosted by Bangladesh, Guyana, Ireland and Nigeria, in technical collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO). The summit was convened by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB).
According to a statement issued at the summit, the initiative is intended to reduce avoidable vision loss by strengthening frontline healthcare services, improving the capacity of health workers and making essential eye care more accessible to vulnerable populations.
The commitment, jointly submitted by several partners, including Sightsavers and Christian Blind Mission, builds on Nigeria’s existing eye health strategy and recognises the wider social and economic consequences of untreated vision impairment.
Beyond the immediate health benefits, the programme is expected to improve educational outcomes, workplace productivity, road safety and the quality of life of millions of Nigerians who currently face barriers to accessing affordable eye care.
A report titled Value of Vision: The Case for Investing in Eye Health, published through Vision Atlas, estimates that an investment of $110 million in eye health in Nigeria could generate $2.45 billion in economic benefits by 2030.
The analysis further projects that such investments could avert 13,590 cases of depression, prevent 56 traffic deaths and 1,479 traffic injuries, while generating the equivalent of 70,641 additional years of learning.
Speaking at the summit, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, said eye health must no longer be treated as a peripheral issue in national and global development planning, arguing that access to vision care was critical to poverty reduction, education and economic growth.
“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,” Akume said.
He maintained that the economic and social costs of poor vision extended far beyond the health sector, affecting people’s ability to learn, work, earn a living and participate meaningfully in society.
“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, and the Value of Vision report shows what a modest investment can do.
“$71 billion over five years spent on six critical priorities would unlock $199 billion in economic benefits by 2030,” he stated, referring to the broader global investment case for eye health.
The Federal Government’s commitment is expected to strengthen existing programmes aimed at bringing eye care services closer to communities, particularly through primary healthcare facilities that serve as the first point of contact for millions of Nigerians.
One such intervention is the Focus on Clear Vision project, being implemented with support from Sightsavers, government institutions and other partners in Kebbi, Jigawa and Bauchi states.
The initiative focuses on school-aged children, providing vision screening and spectacles to those who require corrective lenses, with the objective of improving learning outcomes and reducing the disadvantages associated with undetected vision problems.
According to the summit statement, the project has screened more than 1.5 million children and teachers and distributed over 33,000 pairs of glasses.
The programme demonstrates how partnerships between government and development organisations can expand access to essential services while reducing the financial burden of eye care on families.
Country Manager of VisionSpring, Abimbola Ogundirahun, also highlighted the organisation’s support for the Federal Ministry of Health’s Jigi Bola initiative, which seeks to integrate access to reading glasses into primary healthcare services.
Ogundirahun explained that VisionSpring was contributing to the initiative through training, technical assistance and the supply of affordable, appropriate eyeglasses, helping frontline health workers develop the capacity to provide basic vision services.
The intervention is expected to improve access to reading glasses among Nigerians who would otherwise have to travel considerable distances or incur significant costs to obtain basic corrective lenses.
Chief Executive Officer of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, Peter Holland, described the summit as an important milestone in global efforts to expand access to eye care, noting that governments, development organisations and private sector institutions had demonstrated growing recognition of the importance of vision health.
“The Global Summit for Eye Health marks a defining moment for global eye health. Never before have so many governments, organisations, and private sector leaders come together around a shared commitment to expand access to sight-saving care,” Holland said.
He expressed confidence that the commitments announced at the summit would improve the lives of hundreds of millions of people by enabling them to access education, remain economically productive and participate more fully in family and community life.
“The package of commitments announced this week will improve the lives of hundreds of millions of people and help them go to school, stay in work, care for their families, and participate fully in society.
“It demonstrates growing recognition that investing in eye health is an investment in human potential, economic growth, and sustainable development,” he added.
For Nigeria, the new commitment places particular emphasis on strengthening primary healthcare facilities and developing the workforce required to deliver eye care services at the community level, while expanding access to cataract surgery and corrective spectacles.
The programme also seeks to address disparities in access to treatment between urban centres and rural communities, where the shortage of trained personnel, limited facilities and the cost of care often prevent people from obtaining timely diagnosis and treatment.
With a target of reaching more than 25 million vulnerable Nigerians by 2030, the Federal Government and its partners are expected to translate the commitments into expanded services, workforce training and improved access to treatment as part of the country’s broader Universal Health Coverage agenda.
The success of the initiative will depend on the implementation of the announced targets, sustained collaboration among participating institutions and the ability to extend services to communities where preventable vision loss remains a major challenge.
