By Nura Balama
Sightsavers Nigeria has advocated for deliberate and sustainable mentorship among health professionals to prevent gabs at the exit of older civil servants
The country Director of the NGO Dr. Joy Shu’abu stated this at the flag off exercise of SeeClear Nigeria Inclusive Eye Health initiative in Kaduna.
Dr. Shu’abu explained that the Seeclear initiative whose benefactors would be drawn from Plateau, Sokoto, Zamfara and Kaduna is a three year pilot program that aimed to strengthen eye care service delivery in the country.
“One of the things we we like to see is intentional and deliberate mentoring where younger health professionals are working alongside experienced ones so that when the matured civil servants exit from the service, the younger ones can succeed and sustain the work” she said
She stated that the initiative will also capture children and all categories of marginalised groups where surgery and the distribution of eye glasses would be provided for them to improve their eyesight.
The Country Director assured that they will also be doing advocacy visit to government to ensure that budget lines and policy are in place to ensure that the approved funding and the program structure are sustained.
Dr Joy Shu’abu reiterated that the Seeclear initiative will deploy technology to ensure that the eye care services are efficient and effective.
She said sightsaver in collaboration with ministry of health and education alongside relevant stakeholders will train primary health workers and school teachers on eye care across the benefiting states which was in line with the national eye health policy
In a remark, Plateau State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Nicholas Baamlong, praised the initiative, emphasizing that four state governments have embraced the program, recognizing the importance of sustainability.
Similarly, Representative of the Eye Health Care Committee in the North West, Abdulkadir Lawal Rafindadi, commended Sightsavers , stressing that the SeeClear project will reach grassroots communities where many people are unaware of such services
