This program aims to deliver eye care and spectacles to people in need in South Africa through the development of a service delivery system within the district health system of KwaZulu-Natal. This includes a Child Eye Care Delivery model aimed to immediately deliver eye care services to children in need whilst improving capacity of existing government structures. Project Objectives:
The Child Eye Care Delivery model is expected to be fully integrated into the public health system and will result in 80% of children in government primary schools being screened in the first three years of schooling. The training of primary eye care workers and establishment of eye clinics will help provide ongoing eye care services to the millions of people reliant on public health care.
Project Outcomes to December 2008*:
- 535 primary health care workers trained
- 109,221 adults screened
- 237,556 children screened
- 1,783 children received spectacles
- 242 low vision aids dispensed
- 7 new eye clinics established in district hospitals
The Future of the Giving Sight to South Africa program:
Over the duration of the program over one million adults and two million children are expected to have received eye examinations; 600 primary eye care workers will have been trained; seven optical workshops will have been established with seven optical technicians trained and 70 community eye heath centres will have been established.
Project Partners:
This project is implemented by the International Centre for Eyecare Education (ICEE) in conjunction with: Standard Chartered Bank; USAID; Kwazulu Natal District Health System; Red Cross Air Mercy Services; Bureau for the Prevention of Blindness and the South African Optometric Association.
* Figures courtesy of ICEE
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