Ophthalmic Education:

News of Initiatives To Enhance Ophthalmic Education in Nigeria

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• Carl Zeiss/IAPB training center program for VISION 2020
  
  
• OSN defines Vision for the Future - Nigeria and establishes OSN Foundation
  
  
• OSN recognizes ICO with Distinguished Service Award
  
  
• ICO pilot project on enhancing residency training
  
  
• A model for enhancing ophthalmic education

Carl Zeiss/IAPB training center program for VISION 2020

Carl Zeiss has provided a $200,000 grant to the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) to support establishment of a regional training center and cataract demonstration project in Ibadan, Nigeria.

The grant is part of a five-year commitment Zeiss has made to the "VISION 2020: The Right to Sight" initiative to help develop one training center per region per year. Indonesia is the site for the first center, which is the focus in 2005, with Nigeria selected for the 2006 grant and Eastern Africa in 2007.

India's Aravind Eye Care System will provide critical support for developing the training center in Nigeria, and a team from Aravind has visited Ibadan to assess needs.

Selected members of the Ibadan faculty center will participate in fellowship training at the Aravind hospital in Tamil Nadu, India to provide high quality/high volume cataract surgery and train other ophthalmologists to do likewise.

Other faculty from Nigeria will receive subspecialty training at Aravind or other centers throughout the world, and nurses and managers will train together as a team at the Lions Aravind Institute of Community Ophthalmology in India.

At the same time, IAPB will help the training center in Ibadan develop the needed facilities and infrastructure.

When established, the Ibadan center will train ophthalmologists and their surgical teams from Nigeria and, eventually, other West African nations.

OSN defines Vision for the Future and establishes Foundation

Inspired by the international ophthalmology's Vision for the Future, the Ophthalmological Society of Nigeria (OSN) has defined its own Vision for the Future - Nigeria, which is a roadmap to enable the country achieve the objectives of VISION 2020: The Right To Sight.

The OSN unveiled its Vision for the Future - Nigeria at its 30th Annual Scientific Conference in Abeokuta in September 2005, and also launched the "OSN Foundation," which aims to raise and manage funds to support these activities.

You can download the Vision for the Future - Nigeria (470 KB) and more information on the OSN Foundation (72 KB) from the ICO Eye Site.

OSN recognizes ICO with Distinguished Service Award

Also at the Conference in Abeokuta, the Ophthalmological Society of Nigeria (OSN) recognized both the ICO and its Secretary General Bruce Spivey, MD, for their contributions to "rekindling the flame for a deeper commitment to the training of ophthalmologists in Nigeria."

OSN presented its Distinguished Service Award to the ICO "in appreciation of the enormous contributions to the training of Ophthalmologists in Nigeria and notable service to Ophthalmology the world over."

ICO pilot project on enhancing residency training

Early in 2004, the ICO decided to launch a pilot project to assess how it might help enhance ophthalmology residency training in Sub-Saharan Africa, where there is only one ophthalmologist for every million people.

That spring, at the invitation of the Ophthalmological Society of Nigeria (OSN), a group of ICO leaders toured residency programs in Nigeria and met with the Nigerian Minister of Health. The ICO leaders and Nigerian ophthalmologists then defined recommendations and responsibility for short-, medium- and long-term action to be taken. The plans were later approved and supported by Professor Eyitayo Lambo, the Honorable Minister of Health of Nigeria.

Since then, a great deal of progress has been made, including:

• The Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology has shipped 19 sets of the Academy's Basic and Clinical Science Course to Nigeria for use in residency programs.
  
  
• With financial support from the ICO and ICOFoundation and logistical support from the World Health Organization (WHO), the OSN has established Residency Resource Centers with broadband Internet connections in each of the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria.
  
  
• The U.S. National Eye Institute and WHO have helped develop a research component to assess the impact of the improved Internet access on residents and their care for patients.

Nigeria was selected for the pilot project after careful consideration based largely on the size of the population.

"The reality is that the ICO has very limited resources and cannot provide financial support for enhancing residency training in other countries." said ICO President Fritz Naumann, MD. "We hope that leaders in other developing regions will be inspired by the great progress in Nigeria."

A model for enhancing ophthalmic education

Also see the overview of the project to enhance ophthalmic education in Nigeria written by ICO Council Member Adenike Abiose, MD, which may serve as a model for other ophthalmological societies.

Dr. Abiose, who coordinated the 2004 ICO visit to Nigeria with then OSN President BGK Ajayi, MD, commented "The realisation of ophthalmologists in Nigeria that they are part of a caring global whole has positively impacted on residents, colleagues and the management of training institutions."

"When the programmes are successfully implemented, Nigerian Ophthalmology is dedicated to sharing her experience and expertise with other countries in West Africa and the rest of the Africa region," Dr. Abiose said.

"Our deep gratitude goes to all those who have contributed to this vision and shown commitment to carrying it through."

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