By George Coben, Bauchi
The Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching hospital, ATBUTH, Bauchi, on Thursday organized eye health program to mark the World Sight Day in four schools across Bauchi metropolis.
The schools were Government Day Secondary School, Bakari Dukku, Al-Iman International Schools, Palace Secondary School, and Kobi Primary School.
“Love Your Eyes,” was the theme of this year’s celebration of the World Sight Day.
Our correspondent was at Government Day Secondary School, Bakari Dukku where Dr Umar Mohammed, Senior Registrar, Department of Optalmology, ATBUTH, Bauchi, and his team were carrying out the exercise.
Dr Mohammed said that the eye health program was meant for children from 5 to 18 years of age.
He said children of this target group are in very critical period of development, where certain eye conditions need to be identified early through screeníng and corrected.
The Dr said this intervention will prevent the problem from developing into a more serious eye condition that cannot be corrected when they become adults.
“This intervention aims to correct such eye conditions like refractive errors which can lead to amblyopia that can no longer be corrected,” the Dr said.
The Senior Registrar explained that the eye health screening exercise identifies preventable or avoidable causes of blindness.
“Children found to have refractive errors are given spectacles to correct their conditions while those found to have allergic conjunctivitis, which is common with children of this target group, would be given medication,” Dr Mohammed said.
According to him, those who come to the outreach with optalmatic condition for which they were already getting medical attention at the hospital, were referred back there to continue, as they were excluded from the target group.
He also said that those found to have other forms of ocular condition beyond the scope of the outreach, such as trauma, were encouraged to go to the hospital for extensive evaluation and treatment.
While saying that the hospital organises such exercise on the 8th October every year to mark the day, Dr Mohammed expressed appreciation for the turnout of pupils and students.
“The school authorities were informed of the exercise ahead of the day, and when we came, we met the beneficiaries already organized for the exercise,” he said.
DAYLIGHT REPORTERS observed that even some children from the neighborhoods also benefited, with some parents expressing appreciation for the outreach.
