World Sight Day: Mothers admonished on prevention of blindness

As the world celebrated the 'World Sight Day', recently, mothers have been charged to complete the immunisation schedule of their babies and give adequate nutritional diet to them as records have shown that measles and malnutrition accounted for blindness in most children.The Executive Secretary of Ogun State Primary Health Care Development Board, Dr Oluyemisi Ajibawo, gave this charge in Abeoukuta while speaking with Community News during a 'walk for sight' awareness campaign to celebrate the day in the state organised by the state government in collaboration with the state branch of the Ophthalmological Society of Nigeria (OSN), to sensitise people on the need to care for their eye.Ajibawo, in a statement signed by the Press Officer OGPHECADEB, Waliat Odemakin, noted that more efforts are been put in place towards the prevention of blindness and visual impairment.He maintained that the establishment of Primary Eye Care Unit in the Board was part of the measures to ensure early detection of eye related diseases with trained eye care vocal persons in all the primary health facilities in the state, adding that 84 per cent of blindness was due to avoidable causes.On her part, the chairman of the state branch of Ophthalmological Society of Nigeria (OSN), Dr Oluwatoni Onabolu, explained that the prevention and reduction of eye problems among indigent citizens of the state with available human and materials remained the priority of the association.She implored people to always visit government owned hospitals for eye specialist and disregard the use on unprescribed drugs and traditional herbs.She added that over 78 patients benefitted from a free eye screening at the state hospital in Ilaro recently.
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