Nigeria Targets 25 Million Nigerians in Drive to Eliminate Avoidable Blindness, Pledges 5 Million Reading Glasses, 25,000 Cataract Surgeries by 2027

Nigeria Targets 25 Million Nigerians in Drive to Eliminate Avoidable Blindness, Pledges 5 Million Reading Glasses, 25,000 Cataract Surgeries by 2027

By Our Reporter

Abuja (Core Reporters) -The Federal Government of Nigeria has reaffirmed its commitment to eliminating avoidable vision loss and expanding access to equitable, affordable and quality eye care services for more than 25 million vulnerable citizens, particularly women, older persons and underserved rural populations.

The Honourable Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, disclosed this while delivering the closing address at the Global Summit for Eye Health held in St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda, under the theme, “From Commitments to a Shared Horizon of Sight.”

Dr. Salako described eye health as a fundamental human right and a critical component of human development, noting that avoidable vision loss extends beyond individual health challenges to affect education, household welfare, personal safety and national productivity.

Reaffirming Nigeria’s national commitments on behalf of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Minister outlined key targets under the Federal Government’s eye health transformation agenda. These include the continued integration of Primary Eye Care into the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), training of 15,000 primary healthcare workers, distribution of five million pairs of ready-made reading spectacles and delivery of 25,000 fully subsidised cataract surgeries by 2027.

He also announced Nigeria’s commitment to increasing the active eye care workforce by 20 per cent and improving the country’s Effective Cataract Surgical Coverage (eCSC) by 30 percentage points by 2030.

Reflecting on Nigeria’s experience with the JigiBola eye care initiative introduced in Lagos State about 25 years ago, the Minister recalled his participation as a young medical officer in the programme. He noted that the initiative has evolved into a broader national vision through the Effective Spectacle Coverage Initiative, known as JigiBola 2.0, demonstrating how successful state-level interventions can inspire transformative national health programmes.

The Minister highlighted Nigeria’s participation in the World Health Organization’s Global Cataract Surgery Initiative, also known as SEE 2045, which seeks to accelerate efforts towards eliminating cataract-related blindness, describing the initiative as a significant milestone in global non-communicable disease prevention and control.

The Minister emphasised that achieving these targets would require sustained domestic financing, stronger public-private partnerships, effective collaboration with international development partners and measurable accountability for commitments made.

He called on participating countries and global partners to sustain the momentum generated at the summit, stressing that millions of people across the world require practical interventions such as access to spectacles, timely referrals and affordable cataract surgery to regain their sight and improve their quality of life.

He congratulated the fellow participating countries—Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Tanzania and China—for their commitment to advancing the initiative, stressing the importance of demonstrating that equitable, high-quality eye care can be rapidly expanded, including in rural and underserved communities.

Dr. Salako further acknowledged the growing commitment of development and philanthropic partners, noting that approximately US$60 million had been pledged towards assistive technology, alongside 15 private-sector commitments valued at over US$468 million for accelerated eye care implementation and approximately 143 additional commitments from organisations beyond government.

Dr. Salako expressed appreciation to the Government and people of Antigua and Barbuda for hosting the summit, while commending the World Health Organization, the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, fellow co-host countries, development partners, technical teams and delegates for their contributions to advancing the global eye health agenda.

He urged all stakeholders to translate the commitments made at the summit into concrete national actions, emphasising that the ultimate measure of success would be the number of people whose sight is protected or restored through accessible and sustainable eye care services.