VOA标准英语2010年-NGO Provides Low Cost Eye Care in Nort

A non governmental organization in Nigeria called Sightsavers is working to help restore sight to visually impaired 1 people. The Federal Ministry 2 of Health recently conducted a survey on visual Impairment. It found that about 1,130,000 people in Nigeria are blind. More than a third of them are in the northwestern states.

SightsaversPatients receiving medication at an eye unit in Sokoto, Nigeria. 60-year-old Sani Umar is a farmer who came to Hajia Gambo Sawaba General Hospital in Zaria in Kaduna state -- one of many centers in northern Nigeria providing low cost eye care to the public.

Umar lives in the Ungwar Sanusi section of Kaduna town. He has had cataracts 4 in both eyes for many years, but only recently started coming to the clinic. "After the treatment," he says, "I started seeing clearly. And I am happy that my sight has been restored."Umar is not alone.

SightsaversFatsima Muhammad from Tozai in Nigeria, having her sight restored during a simple cataract 3 operation. The clinic operates on up to 30 cataract patients per week. They're treated here or in clinics supported by Sightsavers in several states, including Cross River, Kaduna, Kwara, Sokoto and Zamfara.

Sightsavers covers almost all the costs, says Ahmed Danbaba, one of the nurses:

"They provide the drugs, the surgical 5 instruments, even the operating microscopes ... If not for that, I think the cost of cataract surgery would not be affordable 6."Sightsavers has been working to prevent, reduce, as well as cure blindness for more than 60 years. It also promotes equal opportunity in the workplace for people with visual disabilities. The NGO works with the ministries 7 of health and its eye centers, especially in the northwest.

The NGO makes eye treatment available at a fraction of the cost of privately 8 owned centers. In these clinics, cataract surgery costs about $170, or N25,000, but the same service is provided at eye centers supported by Sightsavers for $13, about N2,000.

SightsaversDr. Achi, a pediatric ophthalmologist examining a child at National Eye Center , Kaduna In the past four years outreach centers in the north have treated over 34,000 patients. It plans to operate on over 12,000 patients this year.

Sightsavers has trained 31 ophthalmologists in five Nigerian states.

Cataracts, which can cause blindness, are caused by a build-up of proteins that cloud the lens – the part of the eye that focuses light and produces clear, sharp images.

Cataracts can be caused by many factors, including ageing, smoking, diabetes 9 and dehydration 10 caused by heat and cholera 11.

Doctors say the local custom of withholding 12 water from women during labor 13 and immediately after giving birth can also contribute to getting cataracts.

The country director for Sightsavers in Nigeria, Sunday Isiyaku, says simple measures like improving hygiene 14 can help prevent cataracts and other diseases, such as trachoma -- a bacterial 15 infection of the eye. Symptoms include discharge from the eye, blurred 16 vision and swollen 17 eyelids 18. Isiyaku says 80% of blindness is preventable and trachoma can be reduced largely with good hygiene, such as washing one's face, and keeping one's environment clean.

Sightsavers is working to expand its campaign for better eye care.

SightsaversMr Jaiye an ophthalmologic nurse of the Ministry of Health, in Lokoja, Kogi State examining a patient during community eye screeningAlong with other partners, Sightsavers supports the Nigeria National Blindness and Low Vision Survey, which has provided strong evidence of the need for a national eye health plan.

Sightsavers is credited with raising awareness 19 about eye disease prevention and treatment, while providing care and rehabilitation 20 to those who suffer from it.