Nigerians have been urged to go for regular eye checks to prevent blindness and other forms of visual impairments.
Eye specialists in Benin City who spoke in view of the commemoration of World Sight Day with the theme ‘Love Your Eyes’ said millions of people have severe vision problems which could have been prevented with proper care.
Sight is one of the five senses which enable people to see and form images by use of the eyes and vision but an estimated two million people in Nigeria and two billion worldwide have vision impairments that could have been prevented.
Eyecare experts said that many factors predispose one to have vision-related issues.
According to these experts, glaucoma and cataract though a major cause of blindness to millions of persons in Nigeria and the world, can be treated when there is early detection and diagnosis.
As the theme for this year is focused on personal care of the eyes, many citizens believe that constant sensitization was needed to ensure that people addressed their eye care needs.
The World Sight Day is marked every second Thursday of October to focus global attention on blindness and vision impairment.