Perceptions of Nigerian ophthalmologists about traditional eye care practice in Nigeria

This study was designed to determine perceptions of Nigerian ophthalmologists about traditional eye care practice in Nigeria. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to capture relevant information on TECP from some Nigerian ophthalmologists that attended their 32nd annual professional congress in Enugu, Nigeria, from the 4th to 8th September, 2007. One hundred and one ophthalmologists comprising of 41 consultants, 6 diplomates and 54 resident doctors gave their consent and participated in the study by returning their filled questionnaires. Majority of the respondents (66%) reported a significant degree of community acceptance of TECP within their various localities. Most of the respondents (57.6%) were against collaboration with traditional healers. Despite acknowledging a significant degree of community acceptance for TECP, majority of the respondents were against an integration of TECP into the health system, even at the primary eye care level. We recommend that the government, in collaboration with ophthalmologists, evolves a multi-disciplinary agency to 1) regulate and monitor TECP; 2) identify and encourage the useful components of TECP, while at the same time, identify and discourage the harmful aspects including all forms of surgery and couching of the lens; 3) training and retraining of TECP practitioners to enable them become useful members of the primary eye care team.