The Nigerian Optometric Association (NOA) is putting finishing touches to the preparations for its 45th Annual Conference, Vision Expo and Annual General Meeting coming up in Abuja.
Over 2,000 optometrists, other eye care professionals, and industry players from within and outside of Nigeria will attend the event, which is slated to take place from July 12–16, 2022, at the International Conference Centre in Abuja, Nigeria’s federal capital.
Scientific presentations on new developments, innovations, and advancements in eye care will be made at the event by optometrists and other significant participants in the eye care sector.
The NOA announced the event will include a broad exhibition showing goods and services by no less than 100 different exhibitors from prominent businesses and industries around the world in a statement signed by Dr. Adesuwa Agbontaen, Chairman, Conference Organizing Committee. This would offer a sizable platform for information exchange, commercial networking, and the purchase of expert items and technology to enhance optometry practise and service delivery in Nigeria. Presentations may be made by both exhibitors and attendees.
The statement noted that debates on organised optometry practise and training, advocacy campaigns on eye health to target audiences, and eye care delivery concerns at all levels of health care will be at the forefront of the event.
“These annual events also afford optometrists and other conference delegates the opportunity for socio-cultural understanding of cities and cultures in Nigeria, as well as business and social interactions among others,” it said.
The NOA Raffle Draw will be one of the conference’s standout highlights this year, according to the statement, where attendees, exhibitors, and those who buy raffle tickets have a chance to win a variety of prizes during the raffle draw event.
According to Dr. Agbontaen, the NOA Conference has expanded over the years to become the largest gathering of eye care experts in Africa, offering a wide range of opportunities for exploration. As a result of the massive awareness the event creates on the various media platforms and among the general public, influential figures from across the world are now exploring the platform to spread their messages about eye care and public health.
The statement highlighted some of the major advocacy issues that NOA has been focused on, stating that nearly 300 million people worldwide are blind, 90% of whom reside in developing nations, including nearly 7 million in Nigeria; nearly 40% of people worldwide live with visual disabilities; and in Nigeria, close to 50 million people are affected, which restricts their ability to work, learn, or play.
The NOA argued that the country’s burden of blindness statistics has worsened as a result of the massive brain drain of eye care specialists and other healthcare professionals from Nigeria to other nations. The NOA urged the government to take urgent action to address the problems involving the plight of healthcare workers in Nigeria in order to give the nation a fighting chance to stave off an impending blindness epidemic.
The NOA’s president, Obinna Awiaka, promised that the group would keep working hard to ensure that the nation received improved eye care.
“As eye care professionals, we will continue to give our best to help change the narrative, and we are calling on all potential stakeholders to come join us as we seek to leverage on partnerships to improve eye health care delivery in Nigeria; hence our theme for this programme, ‘Leveraging on Partnerships to Transform Optometry and Eye Care in West Africa’,” Dr. Awiaka said.
He thanked everyone who had supported NOA over the years, noting that because of their support, NOA has been able to offer free eye care services in over 100 locations around Nigeria over the previous 10 years, benefiting over 500,000 people.
The NOA president urged individuals, researchers, and company executives to attend the conference in order to take advantage of the NOA platform and the potential for innovation in the eye care sector.
The NOA serves as the primary umbrella organisation for all licenced optometrists in Nigeria, who number over 5,000 and are distributed across the 36 states and the FCT, Abuja.
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