Poised to reduce the huge statistics of Nigerians living with glaucoma, Pfizer has commenced awareness campaign against the disease, enlightening the Lagos Monarch and his chiefs on the importance of their initiative, stating that glaucoma is the silent thief of the sight.
The leader of the Pfizer delegates to the palace, Mrs Magaret Olele, director of corporate affairs, Pfizer Nigeria and East Africa Region (NEAR) said glaucoma comes slowly, that is why it is called the silent thief of sight. “Meeting the Oba Rilwan Akiolu of Lagos is a major landmark for us, and we are going to be doing more of this to give hope to patients, because a voice like this gives us hope, telling us that prevention of glaucoma is possible”.
Olele noted that as many advocates they have in the conversation around glaucoma the better for them, in terms of awareness and prevention, adding that the stronger the voices, the better the outcome. She said they need strong advocates like the voice of the monarch, to propagate the information about the importance of screening and prevention of the disease.
“We do a lot of screening, actually in the area of non-communicable diseases; Pfizer is really strong for pushing out screening on cardio vascular diseases, and now we are including glaucoma to our advoc.acy list. We are doing a lot of screening in partnership with Ophthalmology Society of Nigeria, and a lot of centres on this”, Olele stated.
Responding to the laudable gesture of the organisation, Oba Akiolu expressed his interest in their initiative, disclosing that he was a patient of glaucoma 40 years ago, but he was able to nip it in the bud at the initial stage through regular eye screening and treatment.
Oba Akiolu also urged the people to maintain good hygiene, while urging Pfizer to spread their advocacy against glaucoma to the market places and religious houses in the state, stating that they will get the people in the numbers in these places.
