Lagos To Convert General Hospital To Eye Centre
Prof. Akin Abayomi, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, made it known that the state government will convert one of its general hospitals into a center for ophthalmic specialty to improve care for patients with eye conditions.
Abayomi disclosed this during the fourth Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the Africa Retina Society on Thursday in Lagos.
The event was themed, “Upscaling Retinal Services in a Resource-Constrained Economy.”
Abayomi said the center would provide world-class diagnostic, medical, surgical, and ophthalmic services in Lagos and Nigeria.
He stressed that the state would prioritize eye health, noting that the state was working on developing screening capacity of all its primary healthcare facilities to detect eye diseases early.
“The conditions that affect the eyes very much reflect the conditions of the community in which you live. HIV, for example, was a major problem in South Africa, and I certainly experienced the impact of HIV on our day-to-day medicine and practice.
“Here in Nigeria, we have other things. We have hypertension, diabetes, sickle cell, and lots of trauma. These are the kinds of things that we see in our clinics here in Lagos and Nigeria.
“We need to be able to understand how these prevailing conditions affect us,” he said.
The commissioner further said that efforts are ongoing to promote eye screening, especially in schools, starting with the training of teachers to detect students exhibiting challenges with their vision.
He added that the state would leverage social health insurance to screen, detect, and treat eye diseases as patients present at health facilities.
The commissioner further said the state would strengthen public awareness and understanding of eye health, especially glaucoma and visual acuity.
Abayomi said that the state through its Ministry of Health had forged a partnership with the Chagoury Group
to develop a specialist eye hospital in Lagos to boost access to eye services.
