Eye care service to school children in rural Southern Ethiopia [1]
Prof. Redda Teklehaimanont on behalf of Grarbet Tehadisso Mahber (GTM), Ethiopia
Aim
To provide eye care services in schools to remove the barrier to educational attainment, ensuring that children reach their full potential at school
Project details
Uncorrected refractive error and visual impairment among children can lead to poor school performance and educational attainment. This project focuses on providing eye care services in schools in rural Southern Ethiopia, to remove barriers to educational attainment and ensure that children reach their full potential at school and later, in the workplace.
The project aims to provide screening, eye examinations and ocular health screening to a total of 15,000 school children with corrective glasses provided in cases of uncorrected refractive error. The initiative furthermore intends to provide treatment and surgeries for complications of childhood trachoma at mobile outreach clinics.
In order to extend the impact of the project, teachers will be trained to provide health education on hygiene and sanitation for 50,000 beneficiaries.
Project Update: This initiative has provided vision training and education to 24 teaches in rural Southern Ethiopia. Necessary medical supplies were procured within the first year of the project and a project officer, an optometrist and two medical helpers were hired to form the mobile eyecare team. This team has organized outreach eyecare units, in schools or government health centers, to screen patients for eye diseases, with particular emphasis on uncorrected refractive error and trachoma. At community and school level, 393 adults and 2,178 schoolchildren have received outreach eyecare, of which 596 children have been diagnosed with a refractive error. High quality corrective eyeglasses have subsequently been glazed and dispensed free of cost to 70 of these children. Thus far, the community has appreciated the eyecare services provided through this initiative, with all beneficiaries actively participating in its successful implementation.