Over 1000 indigent Abians suffering from partial blindness as a result of cataracts, living in the 17 local government areas, have regained their sight after a team of medical professionals operated on the affected eyes.
The eye surgeries were simultaneously conducted in three centers; Abia Diagnostic Center and Madonna Hospital in Umuahia, the state capital and Abia State General Hospital, Aba, the commercial nerve of the state.
The eye surgery, which was sponsored by the Social Impact Arm of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, according to Mrs. Emmanuella Arukwe, Director NNPC Foundation was aimed at helping people with cataract cases to regain their sight and to also contribute their quota to not just the development of the state, but national development.
Mrs. Arukwe, while regretting that about 43 percent of blindness in Nigeria is caused by cataract, noted that some of the victims of cataract were breadwinners of their various families, but now have to rely on the assistance of associates or members of the public to feed.
The NNPCL Foundation Director commended the state governor, Dr. Alex Otti, for providing the three centers and the qualified medical team who gave their best in making sure that the event was a success.
“The project started in January. We are doing the project across the six geopolitical zones of the country. This is the second stage that is going on in the southeast and south-south geo-political zones. It will commence in the three geo-political zones of Northern Nigeria; North Central, North West and North East including some parts of Abuja.”
“Without sight, you can do nothing. Cataracts can impede national development because we need everyone to see. Once you are blind, there is little or nothing that you are going to do, it will limit you from achieving your aims. It will make you depend on others’ assistance for the rest of your life.
“We have over 200 million Nigerians, and cataracts are already impeding people from achieving their goals in life. It has caused blindness to a lot of people. The major thing about cataracts is that about 43 percent of blindness in Nigeria is caused by cataracts, and it is preventable.
“Once you remove cataract from the eyes of people, they will begin to see and as such contribute their quota to national development. Once you have cataracts, you become a burden. Some of the people who have cataracts were people who were working before or contributing their quota to national development, but because of the cataract, they have been restricted.
“I am satisfied with what I saw in Abia; the commitment from everyone is good. The centers for the screening and operation are top-notch hospitals, and what is endearing is the mobilization that they did, which brought patients from the 17 local government areas in the state. It is satisfying that there was a lot of mobilization done to be able to make sure that we galvanized a lot of people here, with over 2,000 people being screened.
“We are looking towards holding this kind of medical outreach in the future, and we will do it within the resources available to us. One of the critical focus areas of the NNPC Foundation is health. We do a lot of health initiatives apart from cataract, glaucoma, and others, but this exercise is something that we are considering based on the amount of resources that we have available.
“We have done this in the southwest, and we had 1002. We have over 1000 people. People who are not medically fit may not be operated on now.
“What we are dealing with now is cataract, but as much as possible, we have been treating people with other forms of eye related issues.
“We had children in the southwest who were within 2-9 years suffering from cataracts. They were congenitally blind, and it was really quite endearing for us to see the excitement on the faces of the mothers of these children when they were operated on and they regained their sight. At the moment, we have three children in Umuahia and about six of them in Aba, with the same condition.”
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