President Bola Tinubu has thrown his full support behind a groundbreaking collaboration between the Federal Ministry of Health’s National Eye Health Programme and the Peek Vision Foundation.
This partnership seeks to deliver over five million pairs of eyeglasses to Nigerians with vision impairments.
Ajuri Ngelale, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, issued a statement on Friday confirming President Tinubu’s commitment to the initiative after a courtesy visit by Prof. Andrew Bastawrous, the Founder and CEO of Peek Vision Foundation and Co-Founder of the Vision Catalyst Fund.
President Tinubu shared a personal connection to the cause, recounting how his mother’s eye health issue inspired his dedication to mass provision of eye care services.
He emphasized the importance of ensuring that all Nigerians, especially those who may not have someone to advocate for them, have access to proper eye care.
The President reminisced about the positive impact of free eye screenings and surgeries in Lagos during his tenure as Governor and pledged his support to expanding such efforts nationwide.
He further expressed concern for the more than 24 million Nigerians facing varying degrees of vision impairments, emphasizing the critical role of sight in economic development, whilst citing his visionary “Jigi Bola” program initiated during his governorship tenure, which set the standard for proactive eye care initiatives in West Africa.
“My first experience was with my mother of blessed memory. She was ill and she could not recognise me. When I intervened, she was treated and given a pair of glasses. The next question she asked me was: ‘I have you, and you are able to do this for me. What about those other women and their children who may not have somebody like you to intervene for them?
“So, I made a promise to her that I will pursue the mass provision of eye care vigorously and that I would provide free eye screenings and surgeries to people because of that question my mother asked me and because of her passion to see others healed.
“We eventually impacted the eye health of millions of people in Lagos, and you could see their joy over the immediate sight enhancements when they were given a pair of glasses,” the President fondly recalled.
Prof. Bastawrous, sharing his own transformative experience with vision care, stressed that good vision unlocks human potential and improves earning, learning, and overall wellness.
He highlighted the chronic underfunding of eye care in many countries, including Nigeria, where a mere 0.0002 percent of the health budget is allocated to eye health.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Mohammed Ali Pate, presented a National Policy Document on Eye Health to President Tinubu.
He praised the President’s dedicated team in the health sector and welcomed Peek Vision’s methodology and platform to unlock resources for eye health in Nigeria. Prof. Bastawrous mentioned that similar initiatives had unlocked substantial funds in other countries.
The initiative aims to provide five million eyeglasses to Nigerians with vision impairments, representing a significant step toward improved eye health and enhanced opportunities for individuals and communities across Nigeria.
