Visit to Kano – September 2009

Courtesy of the Vision 2020 links programme and thanks to Emirates, we enjoyed a very comfortable and hassle-free journey to Lagos. On arrival, we immediately experienced the heat and bustle of Nigeria and were very grateful for the help of Samuel, a local ophthalmic nurse who arranged transport to the domestic airport and our fourth flight of the journey. The seating allocation system for the plane to Kano appeared to be run by the Nigerian National Lottery and as a result, I was labelled a “bad boy” by other passengers for the duration of the flight!  Once we arrived at the ECWA Eye Hospital, the warmth of our welcome matched the heat of the climate and we enjoyed wonderful hospitality from our hosts for our entire stay. Yvonne was so keen to stay for longer that she mislaid her (and Kathleen’s) passports, which, following a brief panic, were located!

One cataract removed, one to go!

I spent some time with Thomas who is an ophthalmic nurse with a special interest in paediatrics. We had some great discussions around his desire to help develop the children’s eye service in Kano. The clinic is an incredibly busy place and I got the chance to see a number of patients there with Thomas and demonstrate some basic orthoptic techniques to him. It was at these times that I realised what an impact lack of equipment can have as I struggled to assess children’s vision without the tests which I take for granted in the Western Trust. I talked Thomas through the use of what equipment he had and suggested how he could make adaptations to these tests. Currently there is no orthoptist anywhere in Nigeria and I believe that training someone to have these skills would be of great benefit to the eye care provided in Kano. Over the next three years, I hope to develop and carry out a training programme to enable staff to deliver a basic but competent orthoptic service to the patients at ECWA Eye Hospital. This will involve developing skills in vision testing (particularly in children); detecting and measuring squint/strabismus; ocular movement testing; and binocular vision assessment. I look forward to this challenge and I’m confident that it can be achieved – with some hard work and co-operation in both countries!

David Wright.   Orthoptist