FG Targets 25 Million Nigerians in Eye Care Drive, Pledges 5 Million Spectacles, 25,000 Cataract Surgeries
By Pan Afric Reporters
The Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to eliminating avoidable blindness in Nigeria, targeting more than 25 million vulnerable citizens with expanded eye care services, including five million reading spectacles and 25,000 fully subsidised cataract surgeries by 2027.
The commitment was announced in a press release issued on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, by the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and signed by Ado Bako, Assistant Director, Information and Public Relations, following the closing address of the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, at the Global Summit for Eye Health in St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda.
Speaking at the summit themed “From Commitments to a Shared Horizon of Sight,” Salako said eye health was a fundamental human right and a critical component of national development, stressing that avoidable vision loss affects education, household welfare, personal safety and productivity.
Reaffirming Nigeria’s commitments on behalf of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the minister outlined key targets under the Federal Government’s eye health transformation agenda.
These include integrating Primary Eye Care into the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), training 15,000 primary healthcare workers, distributing five million pairs of ready-made reading spectacles and providing 25,000 fully subsidised cataract surgeries by 2027.
The government also plans to increase the active eye care workforce by 20 per cent and improve Nigeria’s Effective Cataract Surgical Coverage (eCSC) by 30 percentage points by 2030.
Salako recalled his participation as a young medical officer in the JigiBola eye care initiative launched in Lagos State about 25 years ago, noting that the programme had evolved into a broader national intervention through the Effective Spectacle Coverage Initiative, known as JigiBola 2.0.
He said the development demonstrated how successful state-level programmes could inspire transformative national health initiatives.
The minister also highlighted Nigeria’s participation in the World Health Organization’s Global Cataract Surgery Initiative, also known as SEE 2045, describing it as a significant milestone in global efforts to eliminate cataract-related blindness and strengthen the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases.
According to him, achieving the targets would require sustained domestic financing, stronger public-private partnerships, collaboration with international development partners and measurable accountability.
Salako urged participating countries and global partners to sustain the momentum generated by the summit, noting that millions of people worldwide require practical interventions such as spectacles, timely referrals and affordable cataract surgery to regain their sight and improve their quality of life.
He commended Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Tanzania and China for their commitment to advancing the initiative, stressing the need to demonstrate that equitable and quality eye care could be rapidly expanded to rural and underserved communities.
The minister further disclosed that approximately $60 million had been pledged towards assistive technology, while 15 private-sector commitments valued at more than $468 million had been made to accelerate eye care implementation. He also noted that about 143 additional commitments had been secured from organisations outside government.
Salako expressed appreciation to the government and people of Antigua and Barbuda for hosting the summit, as well as the World Health Organization, the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, co-host countries, development partners, technical teams and delegates.
He called on stakeholders to translate the commitments into concrete national actions, emphasising that the ultimate measure of success would be the number of people whose sight was protected or restored through accessible and sustainable eye care services.
