By Fatima Zahra Muhammad
ASHENEWS reports that President Bola Tinubu has approved an initiative to provide five million eyeglasses to Nigerians with visual impairments.
The project, facilitated jointly by the Federal Ministry of Health’s National Eye Health Programme and the Peek Vision Foundation
Speaking when he received on courtesy call, the Founder and CEO of Peek Vision Foundation and Co-Founder of the Vision Catalyst Fund, Prof. Andrew Bastawrous, the President expressed concern that more than 24 million Nigerians were grappling with varying degrees of vision impairments.
“We must act now because sight and vision are critical to economic development and growth,” the President said.
“I am in support of this initiative, and I will encourage the mobilization 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,” the President added.
On his part, Prof. Bastawrous said that the organization, through its Vision Catalyst Fund, has secured a donation of 200 million pairs of glasses, a significant proportion of which will come to Nigeria.
According to him, an estimate of Nigeria’s health budget showed that only 0.0002 percent is spent on eye health.
This challenge of underfunding, he said was evident in many other countries.
Bastawrous however expressed optimism that President Tinubu’s team in the health sector will help in achieving the mandate of this initiative.
“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 for the school program, and in Kenya, €17 million,” he added.
