Sightsavers partners Kogi on eye care for children, PWDs

Sightsavers Nigeria says it has provided eye care services to about 25,200 persons with disabilities (PWDs) and children.

Joy Shaibu, country director for Sightsavers, said this in Abuja at a ceremony to mark the end of the ‘Kogi State Eye Care Programme’.

She said the organisation has been actively working with the Kogi state government since 2018 on avoidable loss of vision especially among children, women and PWDs.

She said Sightsavers’ journey with Kogi began before 2018.

“We have examined an average of 24,000 people across our work areas. We have dispensed approximately 8,000 spectacles,” Shaibu said.

“We have refracted about 20,000 people and we have offered life-changing cataract surgeries to 1,200 people in Kogi state.”

Usman Ododo, governor of Kogi, who was represented by Abdulazeez Adeiza, said his office will ensure the timely release of the visual impairment prevention fund in the state’s budget.

“We will also ensure the retention and maintenance of the eye care Hilux donated by the International Society of the Blind to enhance the logistics of the eye care programme team,” he said.

“I will support the implementation of the finalised sustainability plan developed by the consultant and will work with the Country Director of Sightsavers International on the judicious utilisation of funds in the sustainability account.”