New Telegraph

Good Sight: Curtailing road mishaps, saving lives

Last week, several activities held in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to mark this year’s World Sight Day. It was revealed that there is a nexus between a good eye sight and safe motoring. CALEB ONWE reports

 

Ifeanyi Nwechegi, a 64-year old man, claimed he has been a commercial driver for over 30 years, but has never thought of examining his eyes to ascertain the health condition.

 

Nwechegi disclosed that he hardly sees with his left eye, while the right one is often blurred by something that looks like a mild smoke. This is the condition in which he has been driving for a very long time, unknowingly endangering his life and that of other road users.

Partaking in the free eye screening organised by Sightsavers Nigeria, at the Jabi Motor Park, Abuja, was the real ice breaker that has exposed the time bomb he has been carrying about all these years. The aged man who got a referral letter to Bwari General Hospital for further and more comprehensive eye care, looked jittery as he set off to face his fears of many years.

Ifeanyi said: “They have checked me and given me this paper that I should go the Bwari General Hospital. In fact, I cannot see with one eye, and something like black smoke use to cover the second one. The truth is that I have never checked my eyes, since I was born”. He also explained that God has been gracious to him, having escaped several accidents which he cannot really give account of.

Ganiyu Akin, another commercial driver and beneficiary of the free eye screening, said he has been driving for more than 15 years, but never knew that going for regular eye check was necessary.

Akin who admitted that he had been involved in accidents, which he believed was caused by his poor vision, also regretted his negligence. According to him, ” from the screening the doctors said my case is likely a glaucoma.”

Free eye screening

The free eye screening was one of the activities of this year’s World Sight Day which has been acclaimed as impactful many by people, especially beneficiaries.

It was conducted at the Nyanya and Jabi motor parks and some other strategic locations in Abuja. Dr. Selben Penzin, Senior Program Manager for Eye Health at Sightsavers, said the idea behind the free eye screening campaign at the motor parks was to create awareness about silent blinding diseases.

Penzin disclosed that while Sightsavers provides people with the opportunity to know their eye health status, it also gives interventionist aid of basic medication like eye drops and other cares. “We are doing this to encourage people to have their eyes screened once a year. We are also taking this exercise to the National Assembly and Federal Executive Council to provide them the opportunity to have the screening.

If we have up to 100 people here we will screen them, we will not turn back anyone. “The older a person gets, the more chances the person has of getting visual impairment. It is almost universal that older persons will have eye problems.

 

There are some silent eye blinding conditions, like glaucoma that do not present age related symptoms, but slowly and have very devastating effects. It is through routine  screening that one will be able to detect the diseases, while they are still very early and attend to them.

“We have some treatments that we give, like eye drops for a very common or minor eye conditions as we call them, even though nothing is really minor. The main thing is to provide eye education to people and ensure that people take responsibility to go to the hospital and have their eyes examined and treated properly,” she said.

Tackling eye health crisis

Dr Sunday Isiyaku, Country Director of Sightsavers Nigeria, said that collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Health and other agencies to organise the free eye screening, was the best strategy needed to quickly end the growing curve of eye health crisis in Nigeria. Isiyaku, said eye health crisis was on the increase in Nigeria and it takes collaborative efforts of all stakeholders to tackle it.

“We need all stakeholders, particularly the government and professional bodies, to rise to the challenge and meet the demand for services in the country,” he said.

Isiyaku explained that Sightsavers ‘Eye health equals’ campaign and World Sight Day activities complement the wider International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) call to ‘love your eyes’ and focus the world’s attention on the importance of eye care.

“The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals mention leaving no one behind, but there are still many people in that position.

If we are to tackle the eye health burden in Nigeria, continued crosssector collaboration, well-resourced interventions, funding, and commitments are needed to integrate inclusive eye health into wider health, education, employment, and development systems,” Isiyaku said.

Why public motor parks?

Eye health experts have argued that beside other factors, drivers’ poor eye vision was largely responsible for many road mishaps that have claimed countless number of innocent lives.

They noted that as important as the eyes are to human existence, it was one of the most neglected organs in the human body. According to them, it would be foolhardy for people above the age of 40 years  to live in the illusion of having a good sight, without a medical examination to establish it.

A representative of the National Eye Health Programme ( NEHP) under the Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Obi Chimezie stated that the collaborating partners decided to take the campaign to commercial drivers at the motor parks, as a measure to curb road accidents.

Chimezie noted eye health education was important to that segment of the society, especially motorists/ transporters as it can reduce road accidents and save lives. Chimezie disclosed that beneficiaries of the free screening, who were referred to Bwari General Hospital, will also benefit from the ongoing free cataract eye surgery.

He also noted that the exercise was part of governments efforts to cater for transport workers, adding that it is a way of giving back to the public.

According to Chimezie, the Federal Ministry of Health, Federal Capital Territory Administration(FCTA) and Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs in conjunction with the international eye health development organisation, Sightsavers, teamed up to ensure safety of eye health of drivers in the country by providing best Opthalmologist, Opticians, Optometrist and eye specialists to conduct free medical eye check up on motor drivers.

Also Speaking, Chairman, Nigerian Optometrist Association, FCT Chapter, Dr. Simone Egwujiro, said that the activities was targeted at addressing worrisome road crashes, due to poor eye sight. He explained that if one doesn’t see well it will be difficult for one to drive and manage other vehicles on the road.

“That is why the attention is on drivers this year to see that we are able to give them proper eye screening, correct eye issues that could be corrected, encourage them to have regular eye check, as this is what should be done as regularly as possible. Especially for people above the age of 40, there are definitely changes in the eyes,” he said.

During the screening exercise, Stephanie Anto of the Federal Road Safety Commission(FRSC) confirmed that established evidences have proved that many road mishaps were caused by poor eye vision. The Corps Officer called on motorists to stop neglecting their eyes, and cultivate the culture of regular medical eye screening.

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