The common causes of blindness in North Western Nigeria

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to find the common causes of blindness in North-Western Nigeria. A total of 475 cases were carefully selected using World Health Organization (WHO)categorization criteria. These cases were divided into five groups: 0-20, 21-41, 41-60, 61-80 and above 80 years. From the study, the following causes of blindness were identified: cataract (51.4%), glaucoma (10.7%) corneal disease (9.5%), trauma (6.7%), staphyloma (3.6%) and refractive error (1.5%). Blindness is a significant burden to society in that the cost of lost of productivity and of rehabilitation and education of the blind is very high and increasing. The emphasis on Vision 2020 therefore, is controlling the leading causes of blindness with a view to eliminating them.