Health
3,000 FCT residents benefit from Noor Dubai Cataract Eye Camp – CEO
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Noor Dubai Foundation, Dr Manal Taryam, said 3,000 Federal Capital Territory (FCT) residents would benefit from the foundation’s first free Cataract Eye Camp.
Trayam said this at the flag-off of a 10 – day free cataract eye camp intervention sponsored by the Foundation in Abuja.
Reports have it that goal of the camp is to address eye challenges through check-up, surgeries and issuing of free eye glasses.
The Noor Dubai cataract eye camp is in collaboration with Inclusive Eye Care Foundation, DP World Foundation, Asokoro District Hospital, and the Health Services and Environment Secretariat,(HSES) FCTA.
“Noor Dubai Foundation, a Dubai based Non-Government Organisation (NGO) specialised in prevention of blindness has launched today its first eye camp in Abuja.
“The Humanitarian campaign is in collaboration with Inclusive eye care foundation a Nigerian NGO, and DP World Foundation. We have so far helped over 32 million beneficiaries in over 23 three countries.
“Today we launch our cataract camp in Abuja and this is not the first time we’ve work in Nigeria; we have had a successful programme, which is the comprehensive eye care programme in Katsina State,” Trayam said.
She saod that a gesture had been done in Kaduna.
“What is interesting is that we work on improving the infrastructure of three eye hospitals and over 250 primary care centers, vision and screening centers, and we also try to empower the staffs.
“The 10 days eye camp hosted by Asokoro District Hospital and the HSES FCTA will provide free screening and treatment to over 3,000 people including 250 cataract surgeries.
“The programme will involve screening for disabling eye diseases such as cataract, and refractive errors and providing medical treatment, eye glasses and surgery to treat common eye disorders.
“The Noor Dubai Foundation successfully concluded a comprehensive eye care programme in Katsina state which started back in 2019, and included upgrading services in three major hospitals.
“We also upgraded 250 primary health care centers and vision screening centers, the program provided nearly 12,000 successful eye surgeries, 25,000 free medical consultations and treatments, ‘’she said .
Also speaking, Dr. Gadzama Dan, Acting Director HSES FCTA Public Health Department, said that the initiative to help provide eye surgeries, glasses and check-up was laudable for the less privileged.
“This programme is focused on the less privileged people in our society, we in the health secretariat has as our mandate the responsibility to ensure that we have equity.
“ That is why we have mobilised people from the various parts of the FCT to come to Asokoro hospital to receive free cataract surgeries and other eye care treatment, ’’he said.
Other dignitaries who spoke were Dr Salamatu Belgore, the Acting Director for FCT Health Insurance Scheme, and Dr Garba Abdulrazaq, Programme Manager, Eye Care, Public Health Department FCTA/FCT.
Some of the beneficiaries of the free eye care and surgeries initiative lauded the Noor Dubai Foundation for coming to their aid as eye care treatment or surgery was expensive.
They also urged the Nigerian government to put necessary facilities in place to help in preventing eye care challenges in public hospitals in the country.
NAN
Health
Stakeholders Applaud A360 Impact On Adolescent Health
Stakeholders in Nigeria’s health and development sector say the institutionalisation and scale-up of the Adolescent 360 (A360) Amplify project have greatly improved adolescent sexual and reproductive health outcomes in participating states.
They made this known at a dissemination meeting on the project on Thursday in Abuja.
It was implemented by the Society for Family Health (SFH) and partners, and later adopted into government systems following documented successes.
Launched in 2020, the A360 project was designed to provide adolescent girls with access to sexual and reproductive health information, youth-friendly services and economic empowerment opportunities.
The programme was implemented in Kano, Jigawa, Kaduna and Nasarawa States using a human-centred design approach that engaged governments, communities and young people to improve uptake of family planning and maternal health services.
Dr Aisha Sadiq, Permanent Secretary, Kaduna State Ministry of Health, said institutionalising A360 had delivered measurable improvements in adolescent health indicators and community wellbeing.
She said Kaduna currently provides A360 youth-friendly services in 623 Primary Health Care (PHC) centres.
The Matasan Mata Arewa (MMA) initiative, she added, had reached 75 communities and empowered more than 15,000 girls with entrepreneurship skills and seed capital.
According to her, more than 60,000 girls have accessed contraceptives through the programme, with a reduction in discontinuation rates as more young women sustain use and transition to maternal and child health services.
“These changes have shown a marked reduction in maternal mortality among those communities. It has also reduced negative neonatal outcomes,” she said.
Sadiq recounted an elderly woman’s remarks from a programme community, calling them a strong reflection of the project’s success.
“These girls have spent their whole lives believing they will remain tolerable liabilities to the husbands they marry, but now they are realising the value of becoming appreciated assets,” she quoted.
Sadiq added that Kaduna’s 16 per cent health budget allocation and the integration of A360 activities into the state’s 2025 Annual Operational Plan demonstrated sustained political commitment.
Also speaking, Dr Omokhudu Idogho, Managing Director, SFH, said the four implementing states had successfully embedded A360 approaches into government systems, community structures and routine health practices.
He was represented by Dr Kenechukwu Erichalo, Deputy Managing Director, Project Delivery.
Idogho said the project had reached more than one million adolescent girls with family planning services and engaged over 500,000 others with comprehensive sexuality education messaging.
“We recorded more than 50,000 antenatal care visits, ensuring that girls received skilled care that saved lives, and supported over half a million girls to learn income-generating skills,” he said.
He said A360 pioneered the MMA and Niger Girls models, demonstrating that culturally sensitive, human-centred programmes can succeed even in conservative communities.
“Our most significant achievement is institutionalisation. Today, all 1,750 A360-supported facilities are fully government-led,” he added.
Mrs Roselyn Odeh, A360 Project Lead, said the initiative was developed in response to poor adolescent health indices in the country.
She said the programme ensured respectful, youth-friendly services at PHCs and supported school reintegration and entrepreneurship for girls.
She said the decision to scale the programme in northern states was based on data.
“When you look at maternal mortality among young people, you know the section of the country it is coming from. Data drove our decisions in alignment with government priorities,” she said.
Odeh identified challenges including weak PHC infrastructure, funding gaps, commodity shortages and the need to engage husbands in conservative communities.
“But creatively, we worked with governments to mobilise domestic funding through health revolving funds and the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund,” she said.
Mr Sagir Musa, Commissioner for Youth, Jigawa State, assured of continued commitment from implementing states to sustain and expand the project’s gains.
“This project may be nearing closure, but for us, it has just begun. We have gone beyond its life cycle to embed its approaches in the things we do,” he said.
The dissemination meeting brought together policymakers, community leaders, development partners and beneficiaries to review lessons learned and outline future priorities for scaling adolescent health interventions nationwide.
(NAN)
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