FIMA Year Book 2010-2011 - Federation of Islamic Medical ...

FIMA SAVE VISION IN NIGERIA
prepared for surgery. Patients are given local
anaesthesia of the eye and sent for surgery
which in most cases was extracapsular
cataract extraction with intraocular lens
implantation (ECCE + IOL). After the
surgery, patients were admitted for the night.
5. Post operation
1 st Postoperative Day (POD 1)
Patients are usually seen after the pad has
been removed and the eye cleaned with a
sterile swab. The surgeons will examine all
patients to ascertain the results of the
surgeries.
Patients are usually discharged home on that
day, after they are given instructions on how
to take care of their eyes and proper use of
medication which is given for free.
Patients were also informed of follow-up at
designated eye clinics within their localities.
6. Follow-ups
Follow up visits are done at 1 week, 3 weeks
and 6 weeks after surgery.
As most of secondary institutions (general
hospitals) where the camps were done are
not research oriented, no proper
documentation of the results including
postoperative complications. Also there are
lot of loss to follow up.
7. Success Rate
As mentioned earlier, no data to ascertain this
but on the average it can be estimated between
75 and 85 percent success rate.
General Remarks:
The commencement of activities of FIMA in
Nigeria has brought a lot of relief to the teaming
patients who would have remained blind for
uncertain periods. This has in turn improved the
socio-economic well-being of many families.
After the initial camp in Nigeria in 2007, many
sponsors indicated interest and sponsored camps.
However, as FIMA largely rely on arrangements
and logistics by sponsors, problems are usually
encountered at the commencement of camps,
especially in screening of patients and selection
of proper surgical candidates.
FIMA has shown consistent interest in the camps
in Nigeria and as a mark of its appreciation and
recognition; FIMA has awarded Plaques of
Honour to four individual sponsors of Eye
Camps in Nigeria. FIMA has equally recognized
the efforts and commitment of some individuals
and has given them honorary appointments such
as The National Patron of FIMA activities in
Nigeria (Engr Maimaje Ibrahim Abdullahi), The
International Coordinator of FIMA Activities in
Nigeria (Mr Yusuf Umar Chedi) and National
Coordinator of FIMA Activities in Nigeria (Dr
Imam Wada Bello). Also through FIMA, some
of the sponsors have purchased the following
equipments for the success of the eye camps in
Nigeria.
1. Ten operating microscopes.
2. Two keratometers.
3. Two A-Scan ultrasound devices.
4. Slit Lamp.
5. Hot air oven.
Suggested future improvements include proper
documentation of follow up visits, change in
type of surgeries offered toward sutureless
techniques (small incision cataract surgery or
phaco emulsification) which increase intraoperative
safety and decrease post-operative
suture related complications and need for
glasses 7 . And finally, more concentration is
needed on capacity building through increased
training of Nigerian ophthalmic practitioners
which will make the country self-dependant in
managing cataract patients.
References:
1. UN estimate 2008
(http://data.un.org/CountryProfile.aspxcrName=NI
GERIA)
2. HDI 2010 Index - Human Development Report
Office - United Nations Development Programme.
3. Causes of blindness and visual impairment in
Nigeria: the Nigeria national blindness and visual
impairment survey. Abdull MM et al. Invest
Ophthalmol Vis Sci. (2009);50:4114–4120
4. Annual Report of Nigerian Ophthalmic Nurses
Association 2009
5. Rabiu MM. Cataract blindness and barriers to
uptake of cataract surgery in a rural community of
northern Nigeria. Br J Ophthalmol 2001;85:776–
780.
6. Howard V. Gimbel and Albena A. Dardzhikova.
Consequences of waiting for cataract surgery.
Current Opinion in Ophthalmology 2011, 22:28–30.
FIMA YearBook 2010-2011
89