Optometrist of the Month Coming Soon!

Optometrist of the Month Coming Soon!

The time has come for the world to know you and know how ambitious you are about your profession. Are you an eye doctor (optometrist) in Nigeria? Then this great opportunity is for you. We will be showcasing optometrists (eye doctors) that have won our hearts with their achievements. We will be doing this every month by God's grace.

To participate, kindly email us your details (not less than 350 words) with the subject: "Eye Doctor of the Month". If your personal details are good enough, then we will showcase it on our website for free. Remember, you must have your permanent license or temporary (internship license) and must be law abiding Nigerian optometrist. Also attach at least two of your pictures and include your Facebook user name  Twitter handle, Google+, LinkedIn, etc. in the mail. Send the email to " nwadikeikechi00@gmail.com" and we will give you feed back as soon as possible.

This will be very interesting as many optometrists will be discovered and our blog readers will get to know them and the stories behind their achievements. It will also enable people find these young and vibrant eye doctors whenever their names are being searched on google or bing.

Read More »

Smart Contact Lenses

Sony is developing a smart contact lens which can record videos and play them back. Each contact lens can be controlled by the user’s deliberate blinks and it features autofocus, exposure adjustment and zooming capacities. 

It also features piezoelectric sensors which convert the movement of the eye into energy to power the lens.
The image capture and storage technology are embedded in the lens around the iris. Inbuilt storage allows the user to access these recordings and images easily within the lens. The design of the smart lens was revealed in Sony's patent.

Google and Samsung are also developing their version of the smart contact lenses which could also feature night vision and thermal imaging.

Read More »

The Rising Trend of Glaucoma in Southeast May Lead to Increased Cases of Blindness in The Region

A new wave of worry has enveloped the southeast with the discovery that half of its active population may go blind if nothing was done to check the rising trend of glaucoma and other eyes related diseases ravaging the zone.

It was gathered that about ten years ago, a group of ophthalmologists embarked on a study in Nigeria for the eyes and came up with the startling revelation that the southeast has the highest prevalence of severe visual impairment and glaucoma when compared with other zones in the country.

The study indicated severe visual impairment of two per cent in young people between the ages of 40 and 42 years and glaucoma blindness of 1.2 per cent among Igbos; stressing that it was the highest when compared with other zones of the country.

Since the study was conducted, experts said that measures taken to check it had not yielded the desired results, stressing that rather than reducing, further recent studies conducted indicated that the trend is on the increase, raising fears that the zone’s active population may be visually depressed.

Perturbed by the growing trend, ophthalmologists in the southeast, who gathered in Enugu last week in what was described as “Southeast Ophthalmologists Forum” to brain storm on the development said that time had come for stakeholders, governments among others to take a holistic approach that would save the active population of the zone from going blind.

Speaking at the forum organized in conjunction with Pfizer Nigeria, President, Ophthalmologist Society of Nigeria (OSN), Prof. Sebastine Nwosu, stated that the gathering followed the discovery that several efforts by groups and individuals have not yielded the required dividend, stressing that the figures obtained showed that southeast was still endangered.

He said: “As eye people, when we got this result, we were very uncomfortable and we felt that we really need to do sometime about it, otherwise our training will be in vain. So we felt we could come together to look at this and ask the question on why it is so and not just to ask the question but what are we going to do about it and as doctors if we fail to do anything we will have failed. So the essence of the meeting is to think about all the result we have and how we can solve the problem.”

Given the statistics about the disease, he said that “severe visual impairment of persons of over 40 years is two percent and the highest in the southeast, the Glaucoma blindness in the southeast is 1.2 percent compared to other zones where they have zero percent,” adding that Glaucoma blindness is commonest in all parts of southeast.

“It is like one out of every 100 people here have Glaucoma and in other places it may be one out of 500 people. You can see how bad it is for us. The disease that affects the back of the eye is the commonest in the southeast and this one is about one percent. When we say among the Igbos; there are some Igbos in the Delta, Rivers and Kogi and it is about eight percent. Many people that move about in Enugu are blind and for all these there are many causes, but the one caused by glaucoma is commonest here than any other part of Nigeria and the bad thing about the blindness caused by the glaucoma is that if you don’t catch it early enough, the person becomes permanently blind. It is unlike blindness caused by cataract, which could also be treated. This blindness doesn’t come with symptoms; it doesn’t cause pain. It is a dangerous disease,” he said.

On why the prevalence, Chairperson, Southeast Ophthalmologists Forum and former Deputy Vice Chancellor, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus (UNEC), Prof Rich Umeh, stated that the thinking of the forum was that the disease is genetic.
“It is difficult to know, but we think it is genetic. It is not out of what we eat or lifestyle but may have a genetic basis. We will do more research to find out why we are worst hit. But the simple approach is to go for regular eye check up at least once in a year, otherwise we may have more blind people in this part of the country,” she said.

“We have continued to do studies in the southeast segmentally and it was discovered that the figures kept recurring. We may have more blind people. Studies have been done, the data was analyzed and we moved into action, like going to the radio to educate people, moving into rural areas to treat people, we thought that with these interventions, the prevalence would have come down but the issue is on the rise. We discovered that most in the young and old people. That is why we called our colleagues together to brainstorm on whether we can change strategy. The intervention has been very little. We want to do a kind of organized outreach, organized sensitization so that it will be synchronized. We will not prevent people from getting Glaucoma but if we catch them early, we will prevent them from getting blind because there is treatment for it. There is surgery, there is… we need to partner with our policy makers, to create awareness among others. If people have their eyes checked early enough it will be taken care of,” she added.

Director Corporate Affairs, Pfizer Nigeria and East Africa region, Margaret Olele, said the forum was part of the contribution of the company to reduce the burden of Glaucoma and other eyes related diseases, especially in the southeast zone.
She said: “Pfizer is committed to contributing positively to patient care in our communities whilst exploring more opportunities with relevant stakeholders to reduce the burden of Glaucoma. The Glaucoma Symposium is designed to update health care professionals on the latest advances in medical and surgical management of Glaucoma. It highlights insights in Glaucoma management, medications, surgical techniques and the burden of Glaucoma in Sub- Saharan Africa and Nigeria.”

Source:  TheGuardian

Read More »

There Will Be Global Epidemic of Blindness If We Continue To Spend Hours Staring At A Screen

Warn hours spent staring at screens ‘will rob millions of their sight decades early’

Experts warn we face a global epidemic of blindness if we continue to spend hours staring at a screen. The high-energy light emitted from digital screens is causing irreversible damage to our eyes by deteriorating the retinas.

Damage to the retinas – the light-sensitive layer at the back of the eye – is the biggest cause of central blindness. And a new report warns: “It is now clearer than ever that we are facing a global epidemic of sight loss – particularly for the millions of children who are exposed to digital screens earlier than ever.”

Lead researcher Dr. Celia Sanchez-Ramos said: “It is paramount for adults and parents to act now and protect themselves from further damage.” Currently, there are approximately 900 million devices and children use them without eye protection such as a protective screen or glasses.

The study, conducted at University Complutense of Madrid in Spain, analyzed and compared the results of two previous studies. The first exposed the retinas of rats to tablet screens emitting white LED light, one group with filters and the other group without filters.

After three months of exposure to white LED light, the rats exposed to tablets without filters experienced approximately a 23 percent increase in retinal cell death, which can lead to a loss of vision. The rats that were exposed to tablets filtered with Reticare, the only eye protector based on scientific data, experienced no retina cell death. Additionally, the study showed exposure to LED light from tablet screens favors the expression of genes that promote cell death and the enzymes involved in causing cell death. These effects are largely reversed by using the appropriate filter on tablet screens.

LED screens found in most electronic devices can irreversibly damage the retina and may even lead to partial blindness. In extreme cases, it could even lead to macular degeneration, which causes dark patches to appear in the center of the field of vision.

Source: DailyMailUK Online

Read More »

Benin City in Edo State to Host 2017 NOA Conference

This is to officially announce that Benin, the Edo state capital, has received final hosting rights for the 2017 Annual National Conference and General Meeting of the Nigerian Optometric Association (NOA). The event which will be its 41st edition, dating back to 1976, has been slated for between Wednesday, 5th and Saturday, 8th July, 2017.

Prior to receiving final approval, an inspection tour of proposed facilities in Benin, the Edo state capital, was undertaken between 23rd and 25th of September, 2016 by the Executive Council of the NOA. The team led by the president, Dr Damian Echendu, had Drs Felix Olafisoye adnd Norris Ovilli, Vice-presidents for NOA north and western zones. Others include Drs Agbontaen Adesuwa, Ike Oforbuike, Emmanuel Nwaji and Raymond Aguboshim, Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Financial secretary and Publicity secretary of the association respectively.

Several facilities were examined in details, to ensure compliance with approved specifications. The Host Organising Committee (HOC) was also inaugurated during the visit.
Constituents include:
DR ORINAME ODIGIE Chairman, HOC
DR HAMZAT AIMIEBENOMO Secretary, HOC
DR MICHEAL NWOKO Ex-Officio/ NOA Edo chapter Chairman
DR ADEDAYO DAVID
DR CONSTANCE NOBLE
DR JOE OWIE
DR IBHIADE OZOH
DR ILIADE AIGBOVO
DR CHARLES EGUAVOEN
DR ISONAH UWAMARIN
DR GODWIN OVENSERI
DR SANI IYERE
PROF FRANKLIN KIO
PROF RALPH AKPALABA
Join me in wishing Benin, THE CRADLE OF OPTOMETRIC EDUCATION IN NIGERIA, a qualitative, innovative and memorable event.

Dr Chinonso Raymond AGUBOSHIM
National Publicity Secretary/Public Relations Officer, NOA

Read More »

World Sight Day 2016: NOA Collaborates With Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC)

The Nigerian Optometric Association (NOA) in collaboration with Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) presents WORLD SIGHT DAY 2016 with the theme: Universal Eye Health Call To Action: Stronger Together to create awareness on vision standards for safe driving. The event will take place on Thursday 13th of October 2016 in all the 36 states in Nigeria including the federal capital territory Abuja.

World Sight Day is a global event observed annually on the second Thursday of October with the common purpose of drawing attention on blindness and vision impairment. Originally, World Sight Day was initiated in the year 2000 by the SightFirstCampaign of Lions Club International Foundation. It has since been integrated into VISION 2020 and is coordinated by IAPB in cooperation with the World Health Organization.

The Nigerian Optometric Association (NOA) in this year's World Sight Day will focus on drivers' vision; to create awareness on vision standards for safe driving and the key messages include the following:

• The prevalence of visual impairment in Nigeria is nearly 5 percent, and four out of five blind people are needlessly impaired.
• An estimated 23 percent of drivers worldwide have uncorrected vision and need spectacle correction to improve visual capacity while driving.
• An estimated 59 percent of accidents could be linked to causes associated with poor sight such as failure to use corrective lenses or glare related reasons.
• Risk of car crashes increases by 9 percent in visual impairment.
• Over 90 percent of decisions made behind the wheel depend on good vision.
• Good eyesight and visual perception are fundamental for safe driving.
• Many drivers are unaware that visual difficulties increase as light conditions change, due to lack of information about the role of sight in road safety.
• Any visual impairment will affect the ability of the driver to see road signs clearly at distant and near and will subsequently affect his ability to interact with other road users.
• Even though people with visual impairment try to compensate for their difficulties usually by avoiding crowded routes and slower driving, it is not enough to make up for a reduced ability to recognize road signs, hazards and pedestrians.
• When you drive with less than the set minimum requirement for safety driving, you endanger your live and that of the others. It is an offense!
• All drivers with blur distance vision due to refractive error should get their prescribed glasses and make sure they wear the glasses when driving.
• We need drivers with good vision to increase safety and reduce road traffic accidents on our roads.

Speed thrills but kills faster with blurred vision.

 It's better to lose a minute in life than to lose life in a minute. Please drive safely. All drivers, both commercial and private, should have their eyes tested annually.

Yes we can do it because we are stronger Together.

For More Enquiries, Call:

08076308041, 08023232668, 08033470065, 08033475138.

Read More »

NOA Pays a Courtesy Visit To The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development

Senator (Barr) Aisha Jummai Alhassan; Minister of Women affairs and Social Development

As continuation of our strategic advocacy efforts, the Nigerian Optometric Association (NOA), on September 1, paid a strategic advocacy visit to the Honourable Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Distinguished Senator (Barr) Aisha Jummai Alhassan.

Read More »

NOA calls for a more Optometry-inclusive Health Insurance System in Nigeria

Managers of the National Health Insurance Scheme have been called upon to enhance the participation of optometrists in the scheme in order to avail Nigerians of some vital eye care services that are unique to the optometric profession but are not currently covered by the scheme. This was contained in a goodwill message by the Nigerian Optometric Association (NOA) presented at the Health Care Providers Association of Nigeria (HCPAN) s 8th mid-year capacity building meeting held recently at NECA Hall, Alausa Ikeja, in Lagos.

Read More »

Five Billion People Might Develop Myopia By 2050~~ Researchers

According to a new study carried out at the University of New South Wales and the Singapore Eye Research Institute by researchers, five billion people in the world may become myopic (nightsight) by 2050 and about one billion (one-fifth to be precise) of these individuals are likely to lose their vision entirely as well. Currently, estimates of two billion people in the world have been diagnosed with myopia.

Read More »

American Best Optometrist Invited To The White House

A female optometrist~ Dr. Janine Toucet from Penuelas; a municipality in Puerto Rico (Northern America), has emerged as the best optometrist in America. Dr. Toucet graduated from Inter American University of Puerto Rico School of Optometry and is currently practicing optometry in Kingwood, Texas.

Read More »

Valedictory Speech Presented By Dr. John Chigozie Ekenze: Imsu Best Graduating Student(2009-2016)

Your Excellency, The Governor of Imo State,

Read More »

Optometry Department Produced The Overall Best Graduating Student In Imo State University, Owerri

Dr Chigozie Ekenze

Dr. Chigozie Ekenze, better known and referred to by his friends and colleagues as Prof, is from Ogbaku in Mbaitolu  local government area of Imo state.

Read More »