The National Orientation Agency (NOA) and the Federal Ministry of Health launched a joint initiative to promote sensory health nationwide in a bid to tackle preventable blindness in Nigeria. The alliance will also focus on developing the capacity of national blindness programmes and interventions.

Quoting the Nigerian blindness and visual impairment survey, the Federal Ministry of Health, earlier in March, stated that over “4.2% of the Nigerian population were blind; 16.7% was due to glaucoma.”

For a developing economy with many poor people on its social register, blindness and poverty are both a cause and consequence of each other. However, breaking the cycle requires highly complex strategies that go far beyond funding.

Similarly, a study undertaken by PricewaterhouseCoopers conservatively estimated that the additional income earned as a result of building “gold standard” sustainable eye health systems in developing countries, and by treating their existing backlog of blindness and visual impairment, would considerably outweigh the costs by a factor of four to one.

This type of research understates the benefits of reducing blindness in low-income countries because they tend to limit their analysis to benefits with a monetary value. The non-monetary benefits of curing blindness include increased education, gender equality, reduced child mortality, improved self-esteem, health costs and expanded social networks.

Considering the potential outcomes of early intervention, the National Orientation Agency (NOA), in a renewed drive to eliminate preventable blindness and promote sensory health nationwide, recently welcomed a delegation from the Federal Ministry of Health’s Department of Public Health and Social Care, as part of efforts to formalise plans for a robust partnership focused on public health education and eye care awareness.

Speaking on behalf of the Director General of NOA, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, Director of Special Duties Mr. David Akojim underscored the Agency’s unparalleled grassroots reach. With 818 local offices across the country, supported by community radio stations and television platforms, NOA has a powerful communication infrastructure capable of delivering health messages directly to underserved populations.

This underscores the fact that public health cannot be achieved without public awareness and understanding. The partnership is set to roll out a nationwide series of health education campaigns, targeted state-level outreach events, and audience research activities to guide messaging. These will centre on preventing blindness, encouraging healthy eye care habits, and increasing public understanding of sensory health.

The initiative comes at a time when Nigeria continues to grapple with high rates of visual impairment. According to the National Eye Health Policy, the national blindness prevalence stands at 0.78%, with a staggering 84% of these cases being preventable. Leading causes include cataracts and glaucoma, both treatable if detected early.

During the meeting, Dr. Okolo Oteri, Director and National Coordinator of the National Eye Health Programme at the Federal Ministry of Health, stressed the importance of timely public education. She cited the remarkable results from recent campaigns like the 2023 Effective Spectacle Coverage Initiative, which provided free spectacles to residents across 15 states, as proof of timeous intervention.

To commemorate the strategic meeting, NOA presented the Ministry delegation with a plaque highlighting its flagship National Values Charter, a symbol of national unity and collective action. In return, the Ministry gifted “Love Your Eyes” lapel pins to NOA staff, underscoring their shared mission to promote eye health in every Nigerian community.

While the exchange of gifts marked a ceremonial gesture, the meeting itself served as a concrete step toward implementing the National Eye Health Strategic Development Plan (2024–2028). This blueprint prioritizes integrating eye care into Nigeria’s primary health systems, emphasizing promotive, preventive, curative, and rehabilitative approaches to reduce avoidable blindness.

Another major plank in NOA’s contribution is policy advocacy aimed at making eye care more affordable. The Agency is calling for the removal of import duties and value-added tax (VAT) on optical devices such as corrective lenses. According to the NOA, this would help reduce costs for millions of Nigerians in need of eye care and make critical assistive devices more accessible.

The synergy between NOA and the Ministry of Health underscores a shared understanding that improving public health outcomes requires more than medical intervention — it demands mass mobilisation and behavioural change.

NOA’s mandate as Nigeria’s principal agency for public enlightenment makes it a vital ally in the campaign against visual impairment. From producing multilingual radio jingles on eye hygiene to organising town hall meetings and deploying community mobilisers, the agency is poised to anchor the campaign at the grassroots.

The Ministry, for its part, brings technical capacity, medical personnel, and national policy leadership, creating a comprehensive framework for action.

As the collaboration unfolds, it will be closely aligned with the broader goals of Nigeria’s Universal Health Coverage (UHC) agenda. By enhancing early detection, encouraging regular eye exams, and destigmatising vision aids like glasses, the programme aspires to not only reduce blindness rates but also improve quality of life for millions of Nigerians.

This will make the partnership transmute from a health campaign to a movement to protect the dignity of sight and send a strong signal that blindness is not a fate to endure but a condition that can often be prevented or managed with timely action.

Indeed, the partnership between NOA and the Federal Ministry of Health signals a major step toward tackling one of Nigeria’s most preventable public health challenges. Through joint communication efforts, policy advocacy, and community outreach, the two institutions are laying the foundation for a healthier, more informed nation.

As stated by the World Economic Forum, to tackle extreme poverty, nations must combat blindness, considering that both are a cause and a consequence of each other. Solutions must be intricately tailored to local social and cultural factors. The alliance between the NOA and the Federal Ministry of Health is anticipated to address this if properly harnessed and executed.