Under its Effective Spectacle Coverage Initiative Nigeria (ESCIN) Jigi Bola 2.0, the federal government will give over five million poor Nigerians with preventable eye defects free eyeglasses.
The ESCIN is an initiative of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. It is a roadmap to enable poor Nigerians to access treatment for fundamental eye issues and delivery of spectacles.
The targeted beneficiaries include the elderly and Persons Living with Disabilities (PWDs), as well as other vulnerable citizens with refractive errors across the country.
Speaking at the flag-off ceremony in Okene, Kogi State Governor Ahmed Ododo commended President Tinubu for introducing Nigeria’s Roadmap for Effective Refractive Error Coverage.
Ododo said, “Mr President has again demonstrated his total commitment to the health and welfare of Nigerians through the Renewed Hope Agenda, which focuses generally on delivering good dividends of democracy to the people.
“We cannot thank the President enough for extending yet another health gesture to people with presbyopic eye changes, especially those aged 40 years and above across Nigeria,” he said.
The governor added, “Many of us in the room heard or listened to Mr President tell his mum’s eye health story a few weeks ago.
“That story was the motivation for Jigibola 1.0 then, it is the call to action to Learning Earning Thriving Nigeria See, JigiBola 2.0 (let Nigeria See), in 2023 and the FMOH & SW with its partners are heeding the call.
“Mr President used his personal experience to impact the lives of millions in Lagos by catalysing the strengthening of eye care services.
“Mr President is ready to touch the lives of millions yet again on a national scale,” Ododo said.
Ododo, represented by the state’s commissioner for health, Dr Abdulazeez Adams Adeiza, said efforts to improve eye health focused on increasing access to quality and comprehensive eye care services.
Earlier, Dr Oteri Okolo, the national coordinator of the National Eye Health Programme (NEHP) of the Federal Ministry of Health, said ESCIN Jigi Bola 2.0 was put together to commemorate the maiden “World Assistive Technology Day.”
She noted that it was an initiative of President Bola Tinubu because he recognised the critical role of vision in the well-being of every Nigerian and the social and economic development of the nation.
Okolo stressed that the president had made eye health a priority as one of the deliverables of the Renewed Hope agenda, saying the initiative was targeted towards poor people, particularly at the grassroots.
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