World Sight Day: Expert Cautions Residents against Harmful Practices for Better Eyes
Written by Olarotimi Oshin on October 15, 2022
Joseph EMERIBE
In commemoration of 2022 World Sight Day, residents in Ilorin metropolis and kwara in general have been charged to take good care of their eyes to prevent blindness.
According to the Chairperson of Kwara State Chapter of Nigerian Optometric Association (NOA) Dr. Habeeba Agbabiaka, the main reason for the day is to join the rest of the world in sensitizing people on the need to take good care of the eye and to right the narrative in the unwholesome practices in eye care.
In her words: “in our first point ,we always say eat well, take enough fruit, eat healthy diet, not just junk foods. Make sure in every of your meal there is fruit. Have healthy habits too, like exercising which is always good. Smoking is an unhealthy habit that we can shun, excessive alcohol is an unhealthy habit that we can stay away from”
Dr. Agbabiaka added that practices like the use of Urine, and breast milk as treatment for eye defects should be jettisoned as it could lead to outright damage of the eye sight. Thereby calling on the general public to pay more attention to their eyes and pay visit to qualified eye specialists as against the patronage of quacks.
In her words: “in cases where the diseases is already present or you have symptoms, go to a qualified eye care professional and not just anybody.
She also hinted that in commemoration of the Day, experts in the field of eye care met as a team in Ilorin to sensitize residents of the state on the need to take good care of the eye.
“This year world sight day is a collaboration of all eye care professionals, we have Ophthalmological Society of Nigeria (OSN), Nigerian Ophthalmic Nurses Association (NONA), Nigerian Optometric Association (NOA) and Association of Nigerian Dispensing Opticians (ANDO), so we all came together with the kwara state ministry of health to organise world sight day. We also have some pharmaceutical companies”
The eye care team took their awareness campaign to; Kwara Express, State Secretariat of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), and the State Secretariat of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), where commercial drivers were being engaged, enlightened and screened for various eye challenges.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization’s report says globally, at least 2.2 billion people have a vision impairment or blindness with at least 1 billion of the cases of vision impairment adjudged to have been prevented or yet to be addressed.
World Sight Day is an International Day of Awareness, held on the second Thursday of October every year with this year’s theme being “love your eyes”.
