By Edebor Esther Ihunanyachi
World Sight Day (WSD) is an international day of awareness held annually on the second Thursday of October to focus attention on the global eye health issue.
In line with this year’s theme: “Love Your Eye”, the Edo State Ministry of Health organized events to create awareness on the proper care for the eyes.
Among the activities to commemorate the international day was a radio sensitization program within Ku FM Benin City, a radio station. The State Eye Health Officer, and member of the Edo State Eye Health Committee, Ministry of Health, Dr Nosa Ogbevoen (Ophthalmologist), who anchored the exercise, spoke extensively on the government’s commitment to the all-round health coverage of Edo residents.
According to him, the eye is a vital part of the human body and as such, should receive optimal attention and care. He warned against the use of unprescribed glasses and excessive exposure of the eye to ultraviolet rays from the sun and screens of electronic devices, as these can lead to underlying conditions and problems in the eye.
The eye doctor explained some eye problems and their preventive measures. Some of the most common causes of eye problems are uncorrectable refractive errors, which refer to conditions that can be corrected only with glasses. The failure to correct it early enough can lead to amblyopia, which is an eye condition whereby the part of the eye affected becomes non-stimulated.
Those errors, if left uncorrected, become dormant to the point where even the use of glasses will be a temporary correction. Parents should watch out for children who manifest the early stages of the disease and quickly take them to the doctor for proper eye care.
Also, cataracts are another eye issue suffered by both the young and the elderly. It is the most common cause of reversible blindness, predominantly associated with old age, while glaucoma causes irreversible blindness.
Dr Nosa cautioned that people should endeavour to use shades and lenses to filter those rays as prescribed by specialists.
The government has decentralized the health system in the State to ensure that everyone gets quick and easy access to proper health care. One of the ways to achieve that is the recent upgrade of Primary Healthcare Centers, where the State government has made provisions for a minimum of one doctor at a time in the various PHCs across various localities in the State.
Dr Nosa further buttressed that each health condition requires different levels of care, and a lot of people are yet to accept the above concept. As a result of the ongoing teachings, he advised patients to first report to the nearest Primary Healthcare facilities in their communities in order to reduce the obstacles of proceeding to tertiary care facilities for minor issues that could be handled properly at the primary care level.
He reiterated that not all health issues should be taken to tertiary health facilities without first consulting the PHCs as the act will result in choked-up activities at tertiary health care facilities and it will cut down on the long queues that occur due to frequent visits of patients to get medical care and attention in the case of both major and minor illnesses. In his words, “Doctors are in the best position to refer cases that are beyond the primary levels to the secondary and subsequently tertiary levels.”
He recommended at least a single medical eye check-up annually for residents in order to detect probable eye defects or other underlying issues pertaining to their eyes. “Eye problems are curable if detected early,” he added.
