The Chairman, Board of Management, Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, Dr Kunle Hassan, has lamented the growing eye challenge in the country, saying that over 46 million Nigerians are currently grappling with preventable eye problems.

This, he said, ranges from cataracts and glaucoma, to all kinds of eye infections, including blindness.

The renowned Ophthalmologist has also decried the inadequate manpower to help curb the burden of eye problems in the country, disclosing that Nigeria has one eye doctor for every 500,000 people, whereas the acceptable standard is one eye doctor for every 15,000 people.

Dr Hassan stated this on Wednesday while speaking with journalists at the sidelines of the turning of the sod of N500m Kunle Hassan Foundation Eye Institute at Obafemi Awolowo College of Health Sciences, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Sagamu campus, as well as the unveiling of another N500m professorial chair in Ophthalmology for the university.

He explained that he was embarking on the project to give back to the community and particularly invest in producing middle-level technical manpower that could be deployed to the rural communities across the country to tackle the challenge of growing eye problems in the country.

Dr Hassan highlighted the burden of blindness in the country, saying that it affects productivity and has far-reaching effects on the prosperity of the nation.

He said, “Over 46 million Nigerians are battling different kinds of eye challenges in the country, and most of them are preventable, like cataract, glaucoma, infection of the eyes, among others.

“And there is only one eye doctor to about 500,000, whereas the recommendation is one eye doctor to 15,0000, so we have a lot to cover.

“That is one of the reasons behind funding this institute, when you train a lot of middle technical manpower, with technology, they can be empowered to go to the villages and rural areas and through telemedicine relate it to a centre like this institute to know what to do.

“So, we are building a sort of team that could penetrate our communities to reduce the burden of blindness in the country. You know that when someone is blind, it doesn’t affect the person alone, you have to get someone to lead the person around, the cost of blindness is huge.

“When we curb blindness, it impact on productivity and general prosperity of the country. It is for this purpose that we are encouraging public private partnership to complement whatever the government is doing to ensure that people’s access to qualitative eye healthcare is greatly improved upon”.