Eye Health: 20,000 Secondary School Children To Undergo Screening

There is no gainsaying eye problems in school children have a direct impact on their school performance, later careers and lives in general. Though statistics on Cameroon are not yet available, refractive error occurs in 90 per cent of the global population, says Douanla Solange Vénérande, President of the National Opticians Board of Cameroon. It is for this reason that the charity, Helen Keller International, HKI Cameroon, through the Brightsight Project, is supporting the Ministries of Public Health and Secondary Education to offer eye heath services to school-age children.

Underserved Children
“The goal of the project is to expand the availability, accessibility and quality of eye health services to underserved school-age children with limited access to sight-saving services in the Centre Region of Cameroon,” explains the project factsheet.  

Free Glasses, Surgeries…
“We aim to screen about 20,000 secondary school children in 26 schools for refractive errors and other eye diseases. Those with eye problems will be referred for treatment. We are providing free eye glasses and spectacles for kids in need. Some cases will require surgery and other specialised treatment. All this will be borne by the project,” explained Dr Ismael Teta, Helen Keller International Cameroon Country Director.

100 million FCFA Project
The Brightsight Project is financed to the tune of 100 million FCFA (about 200,000 US dollars) by the government of the United States of America through the United States Agency for International Development, USAID’s Child Blindness Programme. The 12-month project was launched in rural areas of Efoulan Health District in Yaounde in December 2021, targeting secondary school children aged 11-15 years. On Wednesday, February 23, 2022, a team from the project was in Green Hills Academic Complex, Damas, Yaounde to screen Forms 1-Four children for eye problems. Led by HKI Cameroon Country Director, the delegation included representatives of partner ministries and organisations.  

Multiple Partners
“Through the project, we support the Ministries of Secondary Education and Public Health, as well as school authorities and parents. We also work with Acha Eye Hospital, Yaounde for medical support. While the Cameroon College of Opticians ensures that we offer the best possible treatment to school-age children with eye challenges,” Ismael Teta said.

Project Scaling-up If……
He expressed hope that the screening of 20,000 school children will generate enough evidence to scale up the project to other regions. “There is ongoing inbuilt project research conducted by Prof. Epée Emilienne, the lead consultant. We hope the results will inform the next project steps. Already, we have initiated discussions with donors on expanding the project to other regions of Cameroon. But we need clear evidence that the pilot phase was successful,” Dr Teta pointed out.

Project Data, Better Planning
“The project goes a long way to support the strategy of the National Programme for the Fight Against Blindness. We need to know how many children are sick to be able to plan to help them. Sometimes teachers punish children for not doing well, whereas such students only need glasses worth not more than 5,000 FCFA,” said Prof. Epée Emilienne, Service Head for Neglected Tropical Diseases in the Ministry of Public Health.

Auto Refractor For Enhanced Work
“Helen Keller International has just acquired an auto refractor for better eye screening of school children. The machine is used to me...