JigiBola2.0: Over 1.4m Nigerians got free reading glasses in one year — FG
The federal government says more than 1.44 million Nigerians have received free reading glasses under its Effective Spectacle Coverage Initiative, popularly known as Jigi Bola 2.0, within the first year of the programme.
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Adekunle Salako, disclosed this on Tuesday at the State House, Abuja, during a briefing with journalists on the Meet-the-Press platform.
Salako said the initiative, implemented through the National Eye, Ear and Sensory Functions Programme (NESHP) of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in partnership with the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), forms part of the Presidential plan to distribute five million free pairs of eyeglasses nationwide.
According to the minister, a total of 1,541,325 Nigerians aged 40 years and above have been screened for presbyopia across 16 states in the past 12 months, describing the exercise as one of the largest vision-care distribution efforts on the African continent.
The states currently participating in the programme are Bayelsa, Delta, Ekiti, the Federal Capital Territory, Gombe, Imo, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Lagos, Plateau, Ogun, Kwara, Benue, Sokoto and Jigawa.
Salako noted that the initiative recorded a 94 per cent utilisation rate of distributed glasses, adding that 65 per cent of beneficiaries received their first-ever pair of reading glasses. He said the programme also helped reduce gender disparities in access to eye care, with women accounting for 53 per cent of recipients.
He explained that the programme strengthened primary eye care services by training 2,216 primary healthcare workers and activating 811 primary healthcare centres to deliver basic eye services, including screening, counselling, first aid, dispensing of reading glasses and referral of complex cases.
As part of its sustainability strategy, Salako said three vision centres had been equipped to provide eyeglasses at subsidised rates. The centres are located at Alimosho General Hospital in Lagos, Ijebu-Ode General Hospital in Ogun State, and Idanre General Hospital in Ondo State.
