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©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Seeing the unseen: The low treatment rate of eye emergencies in Africa
Babatunde Ismail Bale, Marco Zeppieri, Obehi Suzan Idogen, Clinton Ifeanyi Okechukwu, Onakhe Emmanuel Ojo, Daniel Ayodele Femi, Abiola Afeez Lawal, Shalom Jesufunminiye Adedeji, Pirakalai Manikavasagar, Adewunmi Akingbola, Abdullahi Tunde Aborode, Mutali Musa
Babatunde Ismail Bale, Obehi Suzan Idogen, Clinton Ifeanyi Okechukwu, Onakhe Emmanuel Ojo, Daniel Ayodele Femi, Mutali Musa, Department of Optometry, University of Benin, Benin 300283, Nigeria
Marco Zeppieri, Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital of Udine, Udine 33100, Italy
Abiola Afeez Lawal, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Benin, Benin 300283, Nigeria
Shalom Jesufunminiye Adedeji, Department of Nursing, Isolo General Hospital, Lagos 300283, Nigeria
Pirakalai Manikavasagar, Public Health for Eye Care, London School for Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London CB21TN, United Kingdom
Adewunmi Akingbola, Department of Public Health, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1TN, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
Abdullahi Tunde Aborode, Department of Research and Development, Healthy Africans Platform, Ibadan, Nigeria
Author contributions: Bale BI and Zeppieri M conceptualized the study, developed the outline, oversaw the research process, drafted the initial manuscript, and provided the final approval of the article; Idogen OS, contributed to the discussion section, critically revised the manuscript, and gave final approval of the article; Musa M, Okechukwu CI, Femi DA, Manikavasagar P, Ojo OE, Lawal AA, and Adedeji SJ developed the methodology, conducted data collection and analysis, refined the manuscript, and provided final approval for publication; Okechukwu CI, Femi DA, Manikavasagar P, Ojo OE, Lawal AA, and Adedeji SJ, all provided assistance in writing various sections of the discussion; Akingbola A, assisted the editing process, focusing on both English and scientific editing, and played a key role in revising the manuscript, writing the conclusion, and approving the final version; Aborode AT, Okechukwu CI, Femi DA, Manikavasagar P, Ojo OE, Lawal AA, and Adedeji SJ contributed to the study’s conception, assisted with the manuscript’s revision, and was involved in writing the introduction, with final approval of the article for publication; Zeppieri M, facilitated the submission process, and coordinated revisions. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript for publication.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflict of interest.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See:
https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Corresponding author: Marco Zeppieri, MD, PhD, Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital of Udine, p.le S. Maria della Misericordia 15, Udine 33100, Italy.
mark.zeppieri@asufc.sanita.fvg.it
Received: October 21, 2024
Revised: January 11, 2025
Accepted: January 21, 2025
Published online: September 20, 2025
Processing time: 138 Days and 11.4 Hours
BACKGROUND
Emergency medical care is essential in preventing morbidity and mortality, especially when interventions are time-sensitive and require immediate access to supplies and trained personnel.
AIM
To assess the treatment rates of eye emergencies in Africa. Ocular emergencies are particularly delicate due to the eye’s intricate structure and the necessity for its refractive components to remain transparent.
METHODS
This review examines the low treatment rates of eye emergencies in Africa, drawing on 96 records extracted from the PubMed database using predetermined search criteria.
RESULTS
The epidemiology of ocular injuries, as detailed in the studies, reveals significant relationships between the incidence and prevalence of eye injuries and factors such as age, gender, and occupation. The causes of eye emergencies range from accidents to gender-based violence and insect or animal attacks. Management approaches reported in the review include both surgical and non-surgical interventions, from medication to evisceration or enucleation of the eye. Preventive measures emphasize eye health education and the use of protective eyewear and facial protection. However, inadequate healthcare infrastructure and personnel, cultural and geographical barriers, and socioeconomic and behavioral factors hinder the effective prevention, service uptake, and management of eye emergencies.
CONCLUSION
The authors recommend developing eye health policies, enhancing community engagement, improving healthcare personnel training and retention, and increasing funding for eye care programs as solutions to address the low treatment rate of eye emergencies in Africa.
Core Tip: Eye emergencies in Africa are severely under-treated due to a combination of factors including inadequate healthcare infrastructure, shortage of trained personnel, and socio-economic and cultural barriers. This results in a high prevalence of preventable blindness. This study emphasizes the need for urgent policy reforms, increased funding, and community engagement to improve access to timely and effective eye care across the continent.
