FG signs new MoU to tackle preventable blindness in Nigeria

Amid reports that more than 23 million Nigerians are living with one form of vision impairment or another, the Federal Government has taken a major step toward ending preventable blindness by signing a new national eye-care Memorandum of Understanding with Peek Vision.

The partnership aims to transform how millions of Nigerians with vision impairment are identified, monitored, and connected to appropriate care.

Signed in Abuja on Tuesday, the agreement is designed to close persistent gaps in eye-care access, particularly in rural and underserved communities where many people live with avoidable blindness but are never screened or linked to treatment.

The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Adekunle Salako, who endorsed the pact on behalf of the federal government, said the initiative would significantly expand Nigeria’s capacity to reach people at the last mile.

He noted that the country has a history of innovative eye-care programmes, recalling the popular JigiBola initiative of the early 1990s in Lagos State, which provided glasses to thousands of residents.

 According to him, the new digital platform introduced through the MoU builds on that legacy by enabling health workers to identify people who need help and connect them directly to services.

While emphasizing that misinformation and fear prevent many patients from seeking care early, the Ministry expressed optimism that the partnership will help solve this challenge by improving communication, screening, and referral systems nationwide.

Salako explained that the agreement aligns with the government’s Renewable Health Connect initiative, which focuses on school-based screening, cataract services, and the provision of corrective lenses. 

He assured that the Ministry is committed to driving full implementation, saying the programme would ensure that technology reaches communities that have historically been left behind.

Speaking after the signing, the Founder and CEO of Peek Vision, Prof Andrew Bastawrous, said the initiative was driven by the urgent need to reach millions of Nigerians who live with avoidable vision loss but lack access to treatment.

 Most people with vision loss, particularly those in rural areas of low income, don’t know that they can be treated, don’t know where to go to get treatment if they are aware, and can’t access those services, he said.

The partnership, he said, brings together the Ministry and leading international NGOs including Sightsavers, CBM, and Hands. 

Under the arrangement, trained personnel will use smartphones and tablets to deliver accurate vision screening directly in homes, workplaces, and schools. 

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Bastawrous said this eliminates reliance on health facilities, “Because if you find them and they don’t receive treatment, you’ve solved nothing,” he noted.

According to him, Peek Vision has developed a data platform that monitors every screened individual, tracks referrals, and identifies reasons why people fail to attend appointments

Bastawrous explained how data-driven insights have solved similar challenges in Kenya, where fears, myths, and cost barriers were identified and addressed through targeted interventions. 

The power of data is to point to where the problem is. The power of compassion is to respond, he said.

He confirmed that the Nigerian rollout begins immediately and involves no direct financial commitment from the Federal Government.

Peek Vision will be supported by its international partners, while the Ministry retains full ownership of all data generated. 

He said a new programme supported by Sightsavers has already begun, screening 5,000 people and targeting 1.2 million schoolchildren over the next two years.

Bastawrous added that the broader impact of improved vision goes beyond health, “Something as simple as a pair of magnifying glasses, which many people aren’t aware of, can increase learning potential by 20 to 50 percent. Yet remain inaccessible to people of all ages,” he said.

He noted that cataracts remain the most common cause of blindness but are fully treatable, warning that most Nigerians with cataracts today may die without ever receiving care unless the system changes. 

To date, he said, technology deployed through Peek Vision and its partners has screened 17 million people globally and connected more than 1.5 million to sight-restoring treatment.

Today marks the beginning of that journey to change that story, he said.