It was a chance meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, both the #federalministryofhealth and Social Welfare and

The Dave Omokaro Foundation were invited by the #FredHollowsFoundation for the Stakeholders’ Meeting on Older Persons Eye Health in Africa and we were both also there for the 17th IFA Global Conference held in Cape Town.

This was a clear case of coming from the same country to an international conference to discover parties in attendance were working somewhat on the same subject matter but in silos. We bonded and compared notes.

Dr Oteri Okolo is the National Coordinator. Eye Ear and Sensory Functions Health Programme, Federal Ministry of Health and a brilliant officer. what an outing that turned out for our dear Country’s benefit and in affirmation of equity and inclusion of older persons.

For milestones, Dr Okolo and partners have made good strides in promoting eye health in Nigeria by creating inclusive frameworks, and adopting a life-course approach.

I dare say, that the the programme has a winning roadmap. She comes with an excellent spirit, a courageous heart, and a big tent for multidisciplinary and multi-sectoral partnerships.

The National Eye, Ear and Sensory Functions Health Programme (NESHP) of the Department of Public Health commemorated the 2025 World Sight Day with the theme “Love your eyes: putting people at the heart of service”, on October 9th.

I dare say it was an inclusive event with older persons, school children, persons with disabilities, Development Partners, NGOs, Global heath leaders; public health experts and experts in vision care, researchers, as well as, Goodwill Ambassador- #cohbams, all present in one accord.

This was an account by one of the World’s Best in Ageing Matters Dr Emem Omokaro. I lifted this from her Facebook page.