FG Targets 25m Nigerians with Free Reading Glasses, 25,000 Cataract Surgeries by 2027

The Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to eliminating avoidable blindness, targeting over 25 million vulnerable citizens, particularly women, older persons and rural populations.

The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Salako, disclosed this while delivering the closing address at the Global Summit for Eye Health in St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda.

The summit was themed, “From Commitments to a Shared Horizon of Sight.”

Salako, who spoke on behalf of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, said eye health is a fundamental human right that affects education, welfare and national productivity.

He outlined key targets under the Federal Government’s eye health agenda to include: Integration of Primary Eye Care into the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), Training of 15,000 primary healthcare workers, Distribution of five million reading spectacles, Delivery of 25,000 fully subsidised cataract surgeries by 2027

The Minister added that government plans to increase the eye care workforce by 20 per cent and improve Effective Cataract Surgical Coverage by 30 percentage points by 2030.

Salako recalled his participation as a young medical officer in the JigiBola eye care initiative introduced in Lagos State about 25 years ago, noting that it has now evolved into JigiBola 2.0 – the Effective Spectacle Coverage Initiative.

He also highlighted Nigeria’s participation in the WHO’s SEE 2045 Global Cataract Surgery Initiative to eliminate cataract-related blindness.

According to him, achieving the targets will require sustained domestic financing, stronger public-private partnerships and collaboration with development partners.

He called on participating countries to translate commitments into concrete actions, stressing that success will be measured by the number of people whose sight is restored.

The Minister commended the Government of Antigua and Barbuda for hosting the summit, alongside the WHO and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, and acknowledged over $60 million pledged for assistive technology and more than $468 million in private-sector commitments for eye care.

The summit had in attendance Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Tanzania, China and Nigeria, according to a statement issued by the Ministry ‘s Assistant Director of Information and PR, Ado Bako