As the world commemorates the 12th World Sight Day, statistics from the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness indicate that approximately 800 million people worldwide are blind, severely visually impaired or have near vision sight loss. Of these, 45 million people are blind and 269 million visually impaired with an additional 517 million people who require lenses for reading and other close up activities. The Deputy Coordinator of the National Programme for Prevention of Blindness in the Ministry of Public Health, Dr Andre Ongbwa Eballe, however said approximately 75 per cent of blindness is avoidable, treatable and/or preventable.
It is within this backdrop that the National Programme for Prevention of Blindness, which was drawn-up and validated in 2003, has as objective to eliminate preventable blindness. Noting that trachoma is a contagious bacterial infection which affects the conjunctival covering of the eye, the cornea and the eyelids leading to blindness, Dr Andre Ongbwa said an effective programme to eliminate trachoma is being executed in the country particularly in the North, Far North and Adamawa Regions where the disease is rampant. In the month of May this year, the National Programme for Prevention of Blindness received antibiotics and Azythromycine drugs from Pfizer Laboratory.
These medications, costed FCFA 12 billion were destined for the population in eight health districts in the Far North Region to fight blindness-related diseases. The Secretary of State at the Ministry of Public Health, Alim Hayatou says the drugs were distributed in the month of August and it helped in treating 974,000 people suffering from trachoma. The National Programme to eliminate blindness for the past years has also embarked on a campaign to administer antibiotic eye drops on new born babies to avoid blindness particularly those that can be sexually-transmitted such as chlamydia and gonococci which are one of the high causes of blindness amongst babies.
The government also focuses on the fight against HIV/AIDS which is also an infectious disease with side-effects that can result to blindness. Although trachoma is caused by a small parasitic bacterium, Dr Andre Ongbwa added that poor sanitation, unclean water supply, reduced personal and community hygiene allow the bacteria to infect and re-infect eyes of individuals living in endemic areas. This is why there are constant hygiene campaigns in which eye specialists urge individuals to increase their personal hygiene and sanitation measures so as to avoid conjunctivitis or blindness-related infections.
