The problems of eye care delivery in Lafia, Nasarawa State North central Nigeria

Abstract

Background : Lafia, the state capital of Nasarawa State has a specialist hospital that serves the entire state and beyond. It is a referral centre for the primary health care centres and cottage hospitals, but is short of man-power to meet the health needs of the populace. There have never been any ophthalmologists employed to work in the Specialist Hospital, as such all eye problems were managed by either ophthalmic nurses or optometrists. Difficult cases were referred. Aim : To assess the problems of eye care delivery in Lafia. Method : Records of patients seen between 1999 to 2003 were retrieved; Information on Sex, Age, and History, physical and eye examinations, investigation, diagnosis and treatment given were reviewed. Results : A total of 5, 376 cases reviewed, 3,721 (69. 21%) were diagnosed with diseases of the anterior segment, while 273 (5.1%) were diagnosed with various diseases of the posterior segment. 1, 382 (25.71%) had other eye diseases that were not specific. Four thousand, one hundred and seventeen (78.58%) patients had treatment with traditional eye medicine before or after visiting the hospital. Conclusion : The absence of an ophthalmologist in this study has shown that due to inadequate knowledge of the diseases, proper management of cases was not done. Patients had to travel long distances to get adequate treatment even if it was an emergency. The problem of lack of ophthalmologist will remain with us for a long time. This might create a big vacuum that is filled in by other eye care providers who are not knowledgeable in providing eye care. Highland Medical Research Journal Vol. 4(1) 2006: 89-96