FG targets 20% increase in eye care workforce by 2030 – Salako

The Federal Government says it is targeting a 20 per cent increase in Nigeria’s active eye care workforce and a 30-percentage-point rise in Effective Cataract Surgical Coverage (eCSC) by 2030.

The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Salako, said this in his closing address at the Global Summit for Eye Health held in St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda.

The speech was made available to our reporter on Tuesday in Abuja, highlighting Nigeria’s commitments to improving access to quality eye care services.

Salako said Nigeria would mobilise domestic resources and strengthen collaboration with Commonwealth and international partners to achieve the targets and ensure measurable progress in eye health.

“We pledge to take the resolutions forged here in Antigua back to our domestic health architecture; mobilising domestic public and private sector resources,” he said.

He added that Nigeria would work with Commonwealth and international partners “to track real, measurable progress.”

The minister said Nigeria would continue integrating Primary Eye Care into the Basic Health Care Provision Fund, train 15,000 Primary Health Care workers and provide five million pairs of ready-made reading spectacles.

He added that the government planned to deliver 25,000 fully subsidised cataract surgeries by 2027 as part of efforts to reduce avoidable blindness.

Salako said the commitments reflected Nigeria’s determination to accelerate Universal Health Coverage and improve access to quality eye care, particularly among vulnerable populations nationwide.

He said Nigeria was among the beneficiaries of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Cataract Surgery Initiative, known as SEE 2045, which seeks to eliminate cataract-related blindness.

“Today, as part of the takeaway from this summit, we are setting our sights on an ambitious but feasible goal; eliminating cataract-related blindness through the WHO Global Cataract Surgery Initiative (SEE 2045) of which my country is a beneficiary.

“This project establishes cataract elimination as only the second global elimination target for a Non-Communicable Disease in WHO history,” he said.

The minister congratulated participating countries, including Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Tanzania and China, urging them to demonstrate that equitable access to quality cataract surgery was achievable at scale.

He urged the countries to document successes, measure outcomes and share implementation strategies to guide global efforts towards eliminating avoidable blindness and improving eye health.

Salako emphasised the importance of partnerships in addressing avoidable vision loss, noting that government alone could not shoulder the responsibility of improving eye health.

He said that philanthropic partners had pledged 60 million dollars to support assistive technology, while 15 private sector commitments represented investments exceeding 468 million dollars towards accelerating eye care implementation.

He added that approximately 143 other commitments had been made by organisations outside government, reflecting growing support for global eye health initiatives.

“Eye health cannot be the responsibility of government or of one sector alone,” he said.

Salako said vision loss had far-reaching consequences beyond individual health, affecting education, household welfare, personal and road safety, as well as national productivity.

He recalled that about 25 years ago, he participated as a young medical officer in the JigiBola initiative introduced in Lagos State to provide free eye screening, eyeglasses and cataract surgery.

He said the initiative was now being modelled nationally through the Effective Spectacle Coverage Initiative Nigeria, also known as JigiBola 2.0.

Salako said the summit had helped place eye health at the centre of global development and the Commonwealth agenda, urging participating countries to sustain their commitments.

He called on delegates to return to their respective countries as eye health advocates and ensure people in need could access spectacles, timely referrals and cataract surgery.

NAN reports that the Global Summit for Eye Health brought together government leaders, international organisations and partners to advance global efforts towards eliminating avoidable vision loss.