Optometry Giving Sight

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More than 4,000 school children, aged from 6-15 years old, braved freezing weather in early January to have their eyes tested as part of a Refraction Training and School Screening project funded by Optometry Giving Sight. It was the first ever eye exam for many of the local children from Lechang County, a poor rural county in Guandong Province.
The screenings were provided by some of the school nurses and local ophthalmic staff who had completed training courses in early December.  They were joined by Timothy Cheng, Professional Services Manager for CIBA VISION Hong Kong (pictured below, centre right) and his wife Lily Chui.

"No word could be found to describe my gratitude," said Dr. Xiang Chen, from local implementing partner Zhongshan Ophthalmic Centre. "Only people with great care for mankind and people who are fearless to difficulties are willing to devote their time and energy to this project. The satisfied smile from the children who had received our primary care service is unforgettable."

According to Dr. Chen, the success of the project has inspired the newly trained nurses and ophthalmologists to establish Local Optometry Care Centres so that they can provide ongoing services to other schools in the region. They also hope to establish a Vision Centre in a local hospital and have already identified 2 refractionists, one optical dispenser and a clinical manager to staff the project.

The establishment of the Vision Centre will have a big impact in providing affordable and accessible vision care for people of the region. Many family and schools are still unaware of the importance of wearing appropriate glasses for their children, especially in rural China. Among those with optical correction, an estimated 48.8% of children are wearing inaccurate glasses.


Transforming Lives...

One of the children to benefit from the screening was 13 year old Kumi. She had grown up in the mountains with little access to medical care. Despite her eyes looking normal, she was diagnosed with severe congenital hyperopia in her right eye and consequential amblyopia (lazy eye). This meant that she would lose the opportunity to work as a doctor, teacher or in the armed services, where good vision is a prerequisite for entry, despite the compensation provided by her left eye.

Kumi was told that she must use her amblyopic eye more in homework and daily activities by patching her good eye, in addition to wearing appropriate glasses full time. Within a year, the vision in her right eye should be restored to an acceptable level for a career entry requirement.



The Lechang Refraction Training and School Children Vision Screening project was implemented by the International Centre for Eyecare Education and Zhongshan Ophthalmic Centre.

Photos above courtesy of www.39.net

Background:

Optometry Giving Sight has announced plans to fund a project that will address the vision care needs of 77,000 children in a remote area of Southern China by training and monitoring fourth year optometry students and local health workers to screen for refractive errors and infectious eye diseases.  5,000 children will be screened in the first session of the project.

The project, in Lechang County in Guandong Province, will be implemented by the International Centre for Eyecare Education (ICEE).

“This will be the first time that many children will have received an eye examination in this county,” said Daniel Cui from ICEE. “We hope that once this initial program is completed, that it will be extended to the other 247 schools in the county.”

Lechang is one of the poorest rural counties in Guandong Province. The average per capita annual income among rural households is $US456. Uncorrected myopia is a major public health problem among school age children in rural China, affecting as many as 54% in the 13-17 year age bracket. The lack of access to affordable vision care and adequate human resources compounds the problem.

The project will begin in June with the screenings to take place in December 2010. Daniel and the ICEE team will be assisted by staff from Zhongshan Ophthalmic Centre (ZOC), Sun Yat-Sen University.

Photos courtesy of ICEE.