National Eye Centre Community Eye Care Programme: A 5 year Pilot Project in Igabi LGA, Kaduna Sate, Nigeria

Community Ophthalmology

Abstract

Background: National Eye Centre (NEC) Kaduna has been a technical partner for the implementation of Kaduna State Eye Care Programme funded by Sightsavers over the past two decades. However, since the withdrawal of funding from this donor organization,  eyecare service provision hitherto implemented on a community basis became limited to hospital-based services at a relatively higher  cost and limited geographical coverage. Potentially, worsening the barrier to needed eyecare services access and considerably halting  burden reduction efforts of the leading but avoidable causes of blindness like cataract and glaucoma in previously targeted  communities of Kaduna State[1,2]. Therefore, the National Eye Centre Community Eye Care Programme (NECCECP) will be implemented to demonstrate the provision of effective, efficient and sustainable community based eye care services in a low resource  setting.

Methods: The NECCECP design is hinged on the eight priority areas of the National Strategic Health Development Plan (NSHDP)  namely: Leadership and Governance, Service Delivery, Human Resources for Health, Health Financing, Community Participation and  Ownership, Partnerships for Health, Health Management Information System and Research for Health. The implementation process  shall be a 5-year comprehensive eye care programme, which will be carried out with a referral system linking community, primary,  secondary and tertiary health levels in Igabi LGA of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The major activities shall include baseline surveys on causes  of blindness, community outreaches, health education, school eye health, and surgeries at secondary and tertiary levels. A technical programme management committee shall provide leadership for the programme, which will be guided by an advisory Committee that  will include, selected community leaders among other key stakeholders.