Pfizer partners Lagos to eradicate glaucoma

• How I managed condition for many years, by Oba Akiolu

As parts of its corporate social responsibility to sensitise the general public on glaucoma, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals made a courtesy call to His Royal Highness Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu.

The call was as a result of the increasing cases of the disease in the society, which raised a lot of concerns, as people lose their sight due to ignorance.

Glaucoma is a condition, which can affect sight, usually due to build up of pressure within the eye. It often affects both eyes, usually to varying degrees. One eye may develop glaucoma quicker than the other.

The eyeball contains a fluid called aqueous humor, which is constantly produced by the eye, with any excess drained through tubes.
Glaucoma develops when the fluid cannot drain properly and pressure builds up, known as the intraocular pressure. This can damage the optic nerve, which connects the eye to the brain and the nerve fibres from the retina.

Speaking during the call was Director Corporate Affairs Pfizer Nigeria and East Africa, Margaret Olele. She said: “The discussion around Glaucoma is really very critical in terms of awareness .The stronger the voices the better the outcomes. So we need strong advocates like the voice of His Royal Majesty of Lagos State. We need the voices like the Oba’s voice to propagate the information of importance of prevention and screening.”

She said the disease is called silent thief because it has no physical symptoms, that they will do a lot more of this; reaching out for very strong advocate for them to share their own experience and for them to also let people know and to give them hope.

On their recorded success Olele added: “We do a lot of screening especially in the area of non-communicable diseases. Pfizer is very strong in terms of pushing out screening for cardiovascular and glaucoma .We partner with a lot of centers for screening. We are working closely with the patient association.