From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Optometrists have raised the alarm that many people might face serious ocular health challenges in no distant time because of the number of hours that people spend on digital devices, without taking the necessary precautions to protect the eyes.
The doctors said that though, interactions with digital devices have become inevitable because of increased digitization of so many global activities, notably, commerce, education, corporate and private meetings, lifestyle, information dissemination, among several others, but there’s need for deliberate effort to protect one’s sight.
The warning was part of the key points raised at the 2024 World Sight Day event. Last week, Nigeria joined the rest of the world to mark the 2024 World Sight Day, which was a global healthcare event celebrated on the second Thursday of every October, to raise public awareness, and shed more light on the need to prioritize vision and eye health.
This year’s commemoration with the theme “Children, Love Your Eyes” focused on eliminating preventable blindness particularly among children by taking necessary precautions to avert worst case scenarios that could result in early blindness.
In Nigeria, eye doctors otherwise known as optometrists, under the umbrella of the Nigeria Optometric Association (NOA) championed the 2024 commemorative events across the country to, expectedly, raise national consciousness and awareness on the need for more attention on the eye care, thereby making the services available to Nigerians.
To achieve the objectives, the doctors engaged in road walks, rural and urban outreaches, consultations and several other enlightenment activities at public places to educate and sensitize the people, and also encourage them to seek attention from professionals, and not engage the services of quacks or self help that could worsen their challenges.
Eye care services in Nigeria
An optometrist at the National Hospital, Abuja, who pleaded anonymity, said the optometry department in the hospital is receiving an increasing number of visits lately, particularly from children and young adults who visit the hospital for different ocular issues, some which are at an advanced stage.
The doctor predicted that, based on current experience in the department, there seems to be rising cases of eye challenges among the people, and the reasons are not far from unhealthy lifestyle, exposures, drugs, and mostly, the prolonged screen time, which has obviously become inevitable.
He predicted that the hospital and other health facilities might soon be overwhelmed by different cases of eye problem because of growing dangers the eyes are exposed to. “Sadly, we have the “japa” challenge which has also affected the manpower in various health care facilities. Many professional colleagues have left Nigeria for foreign practice.”
Similarly, many of the eye doctors (Optometrists) used the occasion of the World Sight Day to highlight the messy situation of people whose eye challenges have deteriorated due poor early care or other several factors that are beyond them.
The umbrella body of the optometrists (NOA) also raised the alarm that, in no distant time, more people, particularly children might come down with different eye conditions, some of which could result in blindness, due to some unfriendly exposures, diets, lifestyle, and poor attitude to eye care, in addition to climate change.
NOA President, Dr. Chimeziri Anderson, stated that a global report indicated that over 450 million children across the world, Nigeria inclusive, are faced with different eye conditions that require treatment, with an additional 90 million already experiencing varying degrees of vision impairment, unknowingly or otherwise.
He said: “The theme for this year’s commemoration focuses on the children, stressing the need for vision for the future, vision for the young, vision for the kids. And we all know that children have the highest number of blinding years, if they get blind at early childhood.
“And we also know that every assault to the eyes at early childhood determines the status of the vision in adulthood, and therefore we have to do everything, especially in the area of preventive health care, to ensure that no child, no young one, is needlessly blind.”
He also emphasized the significant disparity in accessing essential eye care services as highlighted by the staggering figures, thus stressing that prioritizing the visual health of children is an investment in a healthier and more equitable future.
WHO’s suggestions
The World Health Organization (WHO), also highlighted the importance of engaging with digital devices with wisdom in order to protect eye health.
It said that research has shown that reducing screen time and spending time outside protects children from developing short-sightedness (myopia), and this means that parents, caregivers and educators have key roles to play in protecting the vision of the future generations.
WHO added that regular eye and vision checks can help to identify issues at an early stage, adding that restoring a person’s sight with a pair of spectacles or with cataract surgery is among the most cost effective health interventions.
It, however, maintained that World Sight Day serves as a reminder that people should prioritize their eye health, stressing the importance of taking regular breaks during activities such as reading or using digital devices, and wear eye protection when using tools and chemicals that could damage the eyes.
It also suggested that smoking and ultraviolet (UV) exposure should also be avoided, for example, by wearing sunglasses and hats when outdoors, to prevent eye diseases.
Necessary cautions
The NOA President also lamented the increasing interactions with digital devices for long hours, and several other environmental exposures that are increasingly having negative effects on the human eyes, in addition to the ignorance of the people on how to manage the situation.
“Our youths, and even adults are deeply engaged in interactions with electronic devices with little or no knowledge on protective measures for their eyes.
“Many of them spend quite long hours in face-to-face interactions with the digital devices. They carry out educational tasks, literary engagements, religious and extracurricular activities and other remote jobs on various digital devices, thus leading to a predominantly indoor and solitary lifestyle, and premature exposure to substances like drugs, alcohol, tobacco and premature labor.”
Check this story for part (2)
World Sight Day alarm! (2)
