A leading Nigerian ophthalmologist, Francis Arogundade, has advised the citizens to desist from the use self- medication in treating eye infections or defects.
The expert gave the advice recently during a free eye screening at the Eleta Eye Institute, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
Arogundade described self-medication as an harmful practice which contributes significantly to the high rate of blindness and ocular morbidity among Nigerians.
The ophthalmologist advised the people to go for eye checks with trained professionals for early detection of eye diseases like glaucoma.
“It is important to go for regular eye checks by trained professionals, so that changes in the eyes or vision can be detected early.
“For example, glaucoma which causes damage to the eye optic nerve can go undetected without an eye check and this can result in irreversible blindness.
“Permanent vision loss from glaucoma can be prevented with early detection and treatment,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the exercise involved free eye screening, free drugs and free surgical procedures for beneficiaries.
(NAN).
