Willingness to Pay for Cataract Surgery in Pre-Operative Cataract Patients in Zaria: Community Ophthalmology

Oladigbolu KK; Abah  ER; Tanko P

Authors

Oladigbolu KK Department of Ophthalmology, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Shika-Zaria
Abah ER Department of Ophthalmology, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Shika-Zaria
Tanko P Department of Ophthalmology, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Shika-Zaria

Abstract

Introduction: Cataract is the leading global cause of blindness accounting for more than half (51%) of the world’s blindness and one third (33%) of visual impairment (blindness and low vision)1 . It was also estimated that the backlog of cataract blind may reach 50 million by 2020.1,2In Nigeria, cataract is the leading cause of blindness accounting for 43%, with a low cataract surgical rate (CSR) of <500/million population.3 This is grossly below the World Health Organization (WHO) target of 2000 – 3000/million population for developing countries3 . More than 3.6 million people are blind due to cataract in Sub-Saharan Africa, and this number is projected to rise every year.4 Cost is a major barrier in most low and middle-income countries (60 – 91%).

Methods: A cross-sectional hospital based study. Simple random sampling of consenting participants was taken from screened patients who presented for free cataract surgery at Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) possibility of overestimation/bias is high more so that it was a free cataract surgery service.

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