Cataract: Project manager says 70% of patients in rural areas

Prof. Feyishayo Adepoju, the Project Manager of eXcellence in Ophthalmology Vision Awards (XOVA), says 70 per cent of patients with cataract are in rural areas, while majority of healthcare providers are in urban areas.

She said this in Ilorin on Monday at the launch of the XOVA Cataract Surgical Project 2024.

The project is dedicated to upscaling cataract services in Kwara through outreaches and integration of primary healthcare into primary eye care.

With a project grant from Novartis, a Swiss multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland, the project is also aimed at training 48 Primary Healthcare workers in Kwara communities, and provide community eye care to restore sight of more than 1200 cataract patients.

The project manager, therefore, said that with 70 per cent of cataract patients living in rural areas, there is the need to fill the care gap through community service advocacy.

The ophthalmologist said that her team had done many outreaches on eye surgery in different towns and villages, including Offa, Igosun, Ajase, New Bussa, Erin Ile, and Okeho, among others.

According to her, the organisation has carried out surgeries on patients with cataract and glaucoma in and outside Kwara.

Adepoju, a Consultant Opthalmologist at University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, said that the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, can now perform about 50 surgeries in a day.

The don explained that from November 2023 till date, she and her team worked with the Offa Descendants Union of United Kingdom (ODUKS) and the Offa Descendants Union of North America (ODUNA), among others.

She pointed out that “all these were possible because of the support from all and sundry, who contributed to the success of returning lost sights through community eye care.”

She added that the XOVA project had started training people in local communities across the state and majority of them can now practice in their various disciplines.

In his remark, Prof. Wahab Egbewole, the Vice-Chancellor, University of Ilorin, said that the institution is blessed to have Adepoju who has the interest of local communities at heart.

The vice chancellor said “sight is the most important part of the human body, and what XOVA has done demonstrates compassion for the people.”

Egbewole commended the project manager and advised the team to evolve strategise that would ensure wider reach and coverage.(