By Ayobami Ife, Abeokuta
The Chief Medical Director of Eye Foundation Hospital Group, Dr. Adekunle Hassan, has expressed concern over the state of eye health in the country, saying over 4 to 6 million Nigerians are grappling with different kinds of eye challenges.
Hassan, a renowned Consultant Opthalmic Surgeon, also lamented the country’s eye doctor – patient ratio, declaring that it stands at one doctor per 15,000 patients.
He made this known at the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), on Wednesday during the launch of twin – project; Kunle Hassan Eye Foundation Academy (KHEFA) and International Institute of Eye Health at the Sagamu campus of the university.
The N1billion projects for the over 40 – year – old state – owned university were sponsored by Dr. Kunle Hassan with the money already deposited in full in the bank.
The Consultant Opthalmic Surgeon who performed the institute’s foundation laying/sod turning ceremony alongside his wife and key officials of the university, said he elected to endow OOI with the dual – project so as to train students up to PhD and bridge the middle level manpower deficit in the nation’s eye healthcare subsector
He said, “The Institute will train students in B Sc, Masters and up to PhD level in eye health and will use the teaching hospital and other eye training centers across the country. Our vision is to provide middle technical manpower that could be deployed to help improve on eye health in the country.
“Over 4 to 6 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 trained 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.”
In his remarks, the University Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ayodeji Agboola, commended Surgeon Hassan, describing him as a man of vision that proposed a N1billion endowment to OOU and backed it with payment of the money in full into the bank.
Also, the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, OOU, Professor Oluwatoyin Ashiru, said the KHEFA Professorial Chair Endowment and the KHEFA International Institute of Eye Health went beyond infrastructure, stressing that they would advance ophthalmic research, expand specialist training, and deliver world-class eye care in Nigeria and beyond.
