Date: 2013-06-25

The Chief Medical Director of University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), Professor Abdulwaheed Olatinwo, has blamed the high rate of blindness among children on parents' negligence. He said it was due to negligence that at least 500, 000 children lose their sights every year.
Olatinwo said this in his presentation at a public hearing on "The Childhood Sight Protection Bill, 2012", organized by Kwara State House of Assembly.
The bill seeks to, among other things, enforce free and compulsory child sight screening against all possible forms of impairment, provide punishment for non–presentation of a child for sight screening as prescribed by law and provide designated centers at tertiary level to be known as the childhood sight care and referral centre", according to the chairman, House Committee on Health, Monde Aliyu Umar.
The CMD, who was represented by Dr. Ademola Popoola, charged stakeholders and parents to take care good care of children under them.
"It is pertinent for us to know that 83 per cent vision is needed in human life and when vision is lost, it becomes life threatening and the child cannot do any tangible thing in life", Olatinwo added.
Declaring the public hearing open, Speaker of the House, Razak Atunwa, represented by the Majority Leader, Abdulkareem Abdulganiyu, said the executive bill seeks to also provide for the establishment of childhood sight protection centers at the state and local government levels for collaboration and coordination of health activities.