President Bola Tinubu has approved a partnership between the
federal ministry of health’s national eye health programme and the Peek Vision
Foundation to provide more than five million pairs of eyeglasses to Nigerians
with sight impairments.
Tinubu made the announcement in Abuja on Friday during a
courtesy visit by Andrew Bastawrous, CEO of the foundation and co-founder of
the Vision Catalyst Fund.
The president said he was motivated to support the
initiative because of his personal experience with eye health.
He narrated how his mother was able to see clearly again after receiving a pair of glasses but had asked him how others in her condition would manage without any support.
“My first experience was with my mother of blessed memory.
She was ill and she could not recognise me. When I intervened, she was treated
and given a pair of glasses,” the president was quoted as saying in a statement
by Ajuri Ngelale, his spokesperson.
“The next question she asked me was: I have you, and you are
able to do this for me. What about those other women and their children who may
not have somebody like you to intervene for them?
“So I made a promise
to her that I will pursue the mass provision of eye care vigorously and that I
would provide free eye screenings and surgeries to people because of that
question my mother asked me and because of her passion to see others healed.
“We eventually impacted the eye health of millions of people
in Lagos, and you could see their joy over the immediate sight enhancements
when they were given a pair of glasses.
“I am in support of this initiative, and I will encourage
the mobilisation of further commitment to see this through and to reach
vulnerable people all across our country. Some parents may not pay attention to
this, but I will, because I am touched.”
Speaking also, Bastawrous shared his personal story of how
he was able to achieve his academic and professional goals because of vision
care.
He said eye care is still “chronically under-resourced” in
many countries, adding that the estimates in Nigeria show that 0.0002 percent
of the health budget is spent on eye health.
“The good news is that President Tinubu has an excellent
team in the health sector, and some of them have demonstrated tremendous
leadership in the sector,” he said.
“What we would like to offer is to bring our Peek Vision
methodology and platform to Nigeria to help unlock resources from multiple
sources.
“In the countries where we have worked, Peek in Botswana
unlocked 10 million dollars for the school programme, and in Kenya, 17 million
Euros.
“Through the Vision
Catalyst Fund, we have secured a donation of 200 million pairs of glasses, and
we would like a significant proportion of that to come to Nigeria.”
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