Health
PT HEALTH WATCH: Delayed treatment of childhood cataracts can lead to irreversible vision loss
Cataracts are often associated with ageing, but eye specialists say children can also develop the condition, sometimes from birth, with delayed diagnosis capable of causing permanent vision loss.
A cataract occurs when the eye’s natural lens, which is normally clear, becomes cloudy. This prevents light from passing properly into the eye, resulting in blurred or reduced vision.
Although the condition is more common among older adults, experts say it can also affect babies and children.
Experts warn that poor awareness, excessive screen exposure, self-medication and late hospital visits are worsening eye problems among children, even as many parents wrongly believe children are “too young” to have serious eye conditions.
Studies reveal that childhood cataract contributes between 7.4 and 15.3 per cent of childhood blindness globally, with delayed diagnosis and treatment remaining a major challenge in developing countries like Nigeria.
The study warned that many children are brought to hospitals after the critical stage of visual development, increasing the risk of irreversible blindness even after treatment.
According to a report on paediatric eye care in Nigeria published by the World Health Organisation (WHO), childhood blindness accounts for between five and 10 per cent of the country’s blindness burden, with nearly 70 per cent of cases considered preventable or treatable if detected early.
The report identified childhood cataract as one of the leading causes of avoidable blindness among Nigerian children, while also highlighting shortages of specialised paediatric eye care services across the country.
Speaking with PT Health Watch, Samuel Osayamen, a senior ophthalmologist, said childhood cataracts are not uncommon and can significantly affect a child’s vision and brain development if left untreated.
Causes beyond ageing
Mr Osayamen explained that cataracts in children may be congenital, meaning present at birth, or acquired later due to injuries, medications, infections or underlying medical conditions.
He said infections during pregnancy, including rubella, chickenpox, hepatitis and cytomegalovirus, can affect unborn babies and increase the risk of congenital cataracts.
“If these infections are left untreated, they could affect the baby and eventually lead to congenital cataracts when the child is born,” he said.
Mr Osayamen noted that genetics also play a significant role in some childhood cataract cases.
According to him, certain genetic mutations and inherited conditions can cause changes in the eye’s lens, resulting in cloudy vision.
He added that maternal use of some medications, such as tetracycline, diabetes during pregnancy, birth injuries, trauma and inflammatory conditions may also contribute to the development of cataracts in children.
Mr Osayamen further warned that traumatic cataracts are becoming increasingly common among children due to domestic accidents and unsafe play.
“We have had cases where children playing at home accidentally injured one another in the eye, leading to traumatic cataracts,” he said.
Signs parents should watch for
Mr Osayamen expressed concern about excessive screen exposure among toddlers and young children, warning that prolonged use of tablets and mobile phones may contribute to vision problems and developmental challenges.
“Some parents give babies tablets for long hours just to keep them occupied. In the long run, it may cause more harm than good,” he said.
He also cautioned against self-medication, noting that inappropriate treatment could lead to eye complications.
The specialist advised parents to prioritise regular eye examinations, ensure proper nutrition and seek medical attention promptly whenever unusual changes in their children’s vision are noticed.
He noted that many children may not complain about poor eyesight, making parental observation particularly important.
According to him, warning signs may include moving unusually close to television screens, difficulty following light or objects, poor eye contact, a whitish appearance in the eye, or difficulty recognising objects.
“When your child constantly moves very close to the television, it could mean the child is not seeing properly,” he said.
Unlike adults, he explained, children often adapt quietly to poor vision, making early detection more difficult.
Risk of permanent damage
Mr Osayamen warned that untreated cataracts can permanently affect the connection between the eyes and the brain during a child’s development.
“One of the worst complications is amblyopia, also called lazy eye. The eye gradually becomes used to not seeing clearly and, later, nothing can reverse it,” he said.
He explained that some children may also develop strabismus, commonly known as squint, in which the eyes become misaligned because the brain begins to ignore the weaker eye.
READ ALSO: FCTA targets 1.5 million children for MNCH Week vaccination drive
He added that untreated cataracts may also lead to uncontrolled eye movements known as nystagmus, commonly referred to as “dancing eyes”.
On the use of glasses at an early age, Mr Osayamen said many children wear them because of refractive errors such as short-sightedness or long-sightedness, which may be hereditary.
He stressed that wearing glasses from an early age should not be viewed as abnormal or harmful.
“Glasses help the child to see clearly and support proper eye development. They do not automatically remove the condition causing the poor vision,” he said.
Nigeria has recorded more than 65,000 suspected cases of cholera across 35 states and approximately 195 local government areas this year, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC).
The NCDC Director-General, Jide Idris, disclosed this on Friday at a press briefing in Abuja, noting that weekly cholera cases had declined substantially from the peak recorded earlier in the year.
However, Mr Idris said the decline in cases should not be interpreted as the end of the outbreak.
“The encouraging news is that weekly cases have declined substantially from the peak recorded earlier in the season. The proportion of reported cases resulting in death is also considerably lower than it was at the same time last year,” he said.
“This is important progress. But I want to be very clear: the outbreak is not over.
Cholera transmission
Mr Idris said the country is still in the rainy season, when cholera transmission can increase because flooding may contaminate water sources and overwhelm sanitation systems.
He said one of the clearest lessons from the outbreak is the importance of early access to treatment, noting that people who seek care early have better outcomes.
“In Borno State, where the majority of this year’s cases have occurred, outcomes have been better where treatment has been brought closer to affected communities,” he said.
However, he said treatment alone could not end the outbreak. “But the data are telling us something equally important: while treatment saves lives, we cannot treat our way out of cholera.”
According to the NCDC boss, unsafe water, open defecation, damaged water distribution systems, poor hygiene infrastructure, and inadequate sanitation in schools, markets, and other public institutions remain among the underlying problems driving transmission.
He called on state and local governments to improve access to safe water and sanitation, strengthen water-quality monitoring, repair critical water infrastructure and address open defecation.
He also urged authorities to ensure that high-risk local government areas have functional treatment and rapid-response capacity.
Diphtheria
Mr Idris also disclosed that Nigeria has recorded more than 10,000 confirmed cases of diphtheria this year.
He said while the disease remains a substantial burden, the proportion of confirmed cases resulting in death has declined considerably compared with the same period last year.
He said most confirmed cases are concentrated in a few states, particularly Kano, Borno and Bauchi.
“The central issue is that too many children remain unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated,” Mr Idris said.
ALSO READ: Cholera outbreak in Borno overwhelms health facilities as suspected cases exceed 35,000
He identified vaccine hesitancy, insecurity, hard-to-reach communities, displacement, and population movement as factors that make it difficult to reach every child who needs protection.
He stressed that diphtheria is vaccine-preventable and called for improved vaccination coverage, particularly in affected, underserved and hard-to-reach communities.
NCDC response
The NCDC said it was coordinating the public health response to both outbreaks with state governments and partners, including strengthening surveillance and laboratory capacity, supporting healthcare workers and deploying National Rapid Response Teams to affected states.
For cholera, the response includes oral cholera vaccination in high-burden areas, water chlorination, rehabilitation of water sources and hygiene promotion.
The agency said its teams had investigated transmission sources and assessed water supply points in Borno, while in Bauchi, oral rehydration points had been established, treatment capacity strengthened, and active case search intensified.
For diphtheria, the response is focused on strengthening vaccination coverage and rapidly identifying and managing cases. Reactive vaccination is also being conducted in affected areas.
Mr Idris said the federal government’s efforts alone would not be enough to bring the outbreaks under control, urging state and local governments, healthcare workers, communities and families to sustain their response.
He also advised Nigerians to seek medical attention early if they develop frequent watery diarrhoea, with or without vomiting.
“Do not wait until the illness becomes severe,” he said, advising people to start oral rehydration solution immediately and proceed to the nearest health facility.
The NCDC also urged parents and caregivers to ensure that children who have missed recommended doses of the diphtheria vaccine complete their routine immunisation.
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The federal government has urged the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) to strengthen professional accountability and take a leading role in the fight against quackery in the health sector.
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Iziaq Salako, made the call on Wednesday in Abuja at the NMA’s First Ordinary National Executive Council meeting of the new National Executive Committee for 2026.
The meeting, themed “Transforming Healthcare Practice in Nigeria: Building Trust, Accountability and Collaborative Excellence”, brought together medical practitioners, senior members of the profession, government officials and policymakers.
Health sector reforms
Mr Salako said the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, signed in December 2023, had recorded 84 per cent implementation, according to the 2025 Joint Annual Review.
He said the health sector’s share of the national budget had risen to 5.2 per cent, while funding under the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) increased from N131.5 billion in 2024 to N299 billion in 2026.
He said the increased investment had translated into improvements in primary healthcare delivery.
“More than 8,000 primary health care centres now receive direct facility financing, close to 4,000 PHCs have been upgraded, and monthly patient visits to Fund-supported facilities have risen from about 10 million in early 2024 to 45 million by mid-2025,” Mr Salako said.
He also highlighted gains under the Maternal Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative, saying the 172 local government areas with the highest burden recorded a 17 per cent reduction in maternal deaths and a 12 per cent reduction in newborn deaths.
According to him, more than 48,000 women received free emergency obstetric care, while over 4,000 free caesarean sections were performed in National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) empanelled facilities.
He added that more than 4,700 women received free vesico-vaginal fistula repairs across 207 facilities.
On health insurance, Mr Salako said coverage had increased from about 16 million Nigerians in 2023 to more than 22 million.
Health workforce
Mr Salako said 37,000 health workers had been recruited into federal hospitals since 2024, while medical school quotas had been doubled to 10,000.
He added that N110 billion had been committed to upgrading 18 training institutions.
He also said a National Policy on Health Workforce Migration and a Diaspora Health Portal had been adopted.
Call for accountability
Mr Salako said the government was delivering on funding and policy, but patients ultimately judged the health system by their experiences with healthcare professionals.
He therefore urged the NMA to strengthen clinical governance, ensure accurate reporting of deaths and conclude disciplinary cases.
He also condemned absenteeism, the diversion of patients to private facilities and informal payments by healthcare workers.
“The government will never sacrifice public health on the altar of professional solidarity,” he said.
On quackery, Mr Salako described the practice as “homicide by instalment”.
READ ALSO: Federal govt launches alcohol policy, targets harmful use, illicit trade
He also cited the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control’s (NAFDAC) removal of falsified drugs worth N1 trillion from Aba, Onitsha and Lagos.
Organ harvesting investigation
Mr Salako also announced an investigation into a viral report alleging the existence of an organ-harvesting syndicate in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
He said the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, through its National Tertiary Health Institutions Standard Committee, had developed national standards and guidelines for organ and tissue transplantation.
According to him, the guidelines require informed consent and prohibit the commercialisation of organ and tissue transplantation.
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