World sight day: Waive export duty on eye care equipment- NOA to FG

The Nigerian Optometry Association has implored the Federal Government to waive import duties on all ophthalmic supplies into the country.

Dr. Obinna Awiaka, the president of NOA, stated this at a press conference in Lagos, yesterday, to mark the World Sight Day, which holds today, October 14, 2021.

He said that despite the high freight rate into the country, the Customs import duty on eye care equipment is high between 28 and 30 per cent. With the weak naira against the dollar, he said it it would cost between N10 million and N15 million to set up an eye clinic.

He said this is not so in other developing African countries because they pay less than six percent import duty, while in South Africa, there is total waiver on all medical equipment.

Dr. Awiaka noted that if priority is not given to the over 80 percent of the country’s population experiencing avoidable blindness, over the next decade, the numbers would increase by 40 percent.

He also said African developing countries, including Nigeria, were already losing about $3.2 billion every year due to blindness.

Dr. Priscilla Imade, the Assistant National Secretary, NOA, canvassed improved funding and policies for the eye sector by the government, as well as creation of more job opportunities for optometrists at all levels to provide for the needs of the teeming population who need eye care services.

Dr. Imade called for the establishment of pre-school eye health initiative, clinics at all Primary Health Centres (PHC) in the country to be manned by optometrists, compulsory pre-drivers’ licence eye examination programme, as well as compulsory pre-employment eye examination and inclusion of all stakeholders, including the NOA into the recently-constituted health sector reform committee.

She said the implications of visual impairment would place enormous economic, social and psychological burden on sufferers, families, communities and the nation.

See original article on TheGuardian.