Beyond Free Screening: Nigeria’s Search For Sustainable Eye-Care Funding

The inability to see clearly goes beyond a medical problem. It can mean a child falling behind in school, an adult losing the ability to work effectively, an elderly person becoming dependent on family members, or a household sinking deeper into financial hardship while seeking treatment.

Yet, eye health has often received less attention than other pressing public health concerns, leaving many Nigerians vulnerable to preventable blindness and visual impairment.

With about 24 million Nigerians living with vision loss, according to figures cited by the federal government, the challenge is enormous. Cataracts, glaucoma, uncorrected refractive errors and other eye conditions continue to threaten the sight, productivity and quality of life of millions.

For many affected Nigerians, access to timely diagnosis and treatment remains a challenge, particularly in underserved communities where eye-care facilities, trained personnel, equipment and essential services may be limited.

Against this backdrop, the federal government called for stronger private-sector investment to help close the gaps in eye care, reduce preventable blindness and build a sustainable system capable of meeting the needs of a population of more than 200 million people.

At a stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja, the minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Adekunle Salako, said that eye health should no longer be treated solely as a concern for the health sector, given its implications for education, employment, economic growth and national development.

According to him, good vision is fundamental to how people learn, work, interact with others and participate in society.

A child who cannot see the classroom board clearly may struggle academically without receiving the appropriate intervention. A worker with untreated visual impairment may find it difficult to perform certain tasks safely and efficiently, while an older person with cataracts may lose independence despite having a condition that could be treated.

These consequences make eye care an important component of human capital development, with the potential to influence educational outcomes, workforce participation and household welfare.

Salako therefore urged businesses in banking, manufacturing, telecommunications, energy and other sectors to recognise investment in eye health as both a social responsibility and an economic decision.

He called for innovative financing arrangements, including blended finance, social impact funds, co-financing and concessional loans, to expand eye-care infrastructure and improve access to quality services.

The minister also urged companies to channel their corporate social responsibility investments into structured programmes, including school eye-health initiatives, rural surgical outreaches and permanent community-based eye-care centres.

Such an approach, he indicated, could help ensure that corporate contributions produce measurable and lasting benefits rather than remain limited to one-off interventions.

 

One of the major questions facing Nigeria’s eye-health sector is how to ensure that services remain available after individual projects, campaigns or donor-funded interventions end.

 

While free screenings and surgical outreaches can identify people with eye conditions and provide immediate relief, sustainable eye care requires a broader system that supports early diagnosis, treatment, referrals, follow-up care and access to essential commodities.

 

Without dependable funding and functional service-delivery structures, people identified with eye conditions during screening exercises may still be unable to afford the treatment they need.

 

This is particularly important for conditions requiring specialised care, surgery or continued monitoring.

 

To address these challenges, Salako urged the private sector to support the expansion of eye-care infrastructure and explore partnerships that combine public-sector leadership with private capital, technical expertise and operational capacity.

 

He also called on development partners and civil society organisations to provide technical support and innovation while helping Nigeria transition from donor-dependent interventions to a locally financed and accountable eye-health system.

 

The objective, he stressed, should be to build a system that can provide services consistently, reach underserved populations and sustain progress over time.

 

For businesses, this could mean supporting community eye-care centres, financing equipment, providing affordable services or investing in the local production of essential eye-care products.

 

For government, it means creating an enabling environment in which these investments complement national priorities and strengthen existing health structures.

 

The Federal Government said it is already working to expand access to eye-care services through the JigiBola 2.0 initiative.

 

According to Salako, the programme, implemented in partnership with stakeholders, has delivered more than two million free eye screenings and 1.5 million free spectacles in just over one year.

 

It has also trained more than 2,200 primary healthcare workers and activated over 800 primary healthcare centres to provide basic eye-care services across 16 states.

 

The next phase is expected to extend services to more than one million Nigerians in an additional 10 states.

 

The Renewed Hope Health Connect initiative is also targeting 25,000 free cataract surgeries by 2027.

 

These interventions demonstrate the potential of combining government programmes with partnerships to extend services to people who might otherwise struggle to access care.

 

However, sustaining and expanding such efforts will require sufficient funding, trained personnel, functional equipment and reliable supply chains.

 

The scale of the country’s vision-loss burden also means that government programmes alone may not be sufficient to meet every need, reinforcing the importance of coordinated investment from businesses, foundations and other stakeholders.

 

The challenge is to ensure that new investments strengthen the country’s health system and expand access equitably, particularly for rural communities and low-income households.

 

Existing partnerships offer examples of how sustained corporate and philanthropic support can contribute to improved access to eye care.

 

Salako commended the longstanding partnership between First City Monument Bank (FCMB) and the Tulsi Chanrai Foundation, which he said had reached more than 400,000 Nigerians.

 

The initiative, known as the Priceless Gift of Sight, was launched in 2009 to provide eye-care services to people in need.

 

In her opening remarks, FCMB’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mrs Yemisi Edun, represented by Dr Diron Olojo, said eye health was not merely a medical concern but a critical component of education, productivity, economic inclusion and human dignity.

 

She noted that preventable and treatable visual impairment continued to affect individuals, families and communities, while gaps in awareness, skilled personnel, equipment and access to services required sustained collaboration.

 

Edun said the partnership with the Tulsi Chanrai Foundation had provided free eye-care services to more than 400,000 Nigerians by July 2024 through eye testing, optical services, surgeries and disease management.

 

According to her, the experience demonstrates the value of long-term partnerships in delivering health impact.

 

She urged participants at the roundtable to identify communities and services with the greatest unmet needs, develop sustainable financing plans with clearly defined responsibilities, and establish delivery timelines and measurable indicators to strengthen accountability.

 

These priorities are critical to ensuring that partnerships are assessed not only by the amount of money committed or the number of people reached, but also by the quality, continuity and impact of the services delivered.

 

For people living in underserved communities, the barriers to eye care may extend beyond the availability of money.

 

Distance to health facilities, inadequate awareness, shortages of trained personnel and limited access to diagnostic equipment can delay diagnosis and treatment.

 

These challenges make community-based services and stronger primary healthcare systems essential to improving access.

 

The Head of Vision Care for Development Foundation, Mimansa Shulala, highlighted the importance of partnerships in reaching communities that are otherwise difficult to serve.

 

She said the foundation, with support from Sterling Oil and in collaboration with other partners, had screened more than 17,000 people over the previous two and a half years.

 

More than 3,000 people requiring further intervention had been identified, while over 1,500 cataract and pterygium surgeries had been facilitated.

 

She also highlighted surgical interventions conducted in partnership with the Tulsi Chanrai Foundation at its Calabar facility.

 

According to Shulala, the objective is not simply to provide treatment to individuals but also to strengthen government systems, develop local capacity and establish a model that can be sustained and expanded.

 

She explained that the partnership brings together different contributions: government provides leadership and systems, private-sector supporters provide resources, the Tulsi Chanrai Foundation contributes technical expertise, and the Vision Care for Development Foundation connects the programme with communities.

 

This model illustrates how organisations with different capabilities can work together to address gaps that might be difficult for a single institution to overcome.

 

However, its wider impact will depend on whether such arrangements can be replicated, adequately financed and integrated into broader eye-health services.

Beyond funding treatment and expanding infrastructure, the Federal Government is also looking towards domestic manufacturing as part of a broader strategy to make eye care more affordable and accessible.

Salako challenged Nigerian manufacturers to invest in the local production of spectacle frames, lenses, ophthalmic medicines and other essential consumables.

Greater domestic production, he said, could reduce dependence on imported products, strengthen local supply chains, create employment and support economic development.

For patients, a stronger local supply of essential eye-care products could help improve availability and affordability, although the actual benefits would depend on production costs, product quality, distribution and pricing.

Investment in manufacturing would also need to be supported by appropriate standards, regulatory oversight and a dependable market for locally produced goods.

The minister urged telecommunications companies to explore how digital infrastructure could support tele-ophthalmology, remote screening and mobile diagnostic services.

These technologies could help connect people in remote locations with eye-care professionals and improve the identification of conditions requiring specialist attention.

Their effectiveness, however, would depend on adequate infrastructure, trained personnel, reliable referral pathways and the availability of treatment for patients identified through remote services.