A total of 1,011 basic school students in the Busa Circuit in the Wa Municipality have benefited from a free eye screening exercise organised by the Ghana Education Service (GES) in collaboration with the Bliss Eye Care.
Out of the number of students screened, a total of 825 had ineffective/allergic conjunctivitis, 12 had suspected glaucoma, 18 had refractive errors, one person had cataract, three had corneal foreign body, and 152 had normal eyes.
Speaking to the media during the exercise, Mr Abudu Issahaku, the Wa Municipal School Health Education Programme (SHEP) Coordinator, noted that the exercise was intended to identify students who have visual challenges for them to be treated before it gets out of hand.
“Those that have problems with their eyesight are given free medications while those that need referral are also referred to the hospital for further checkups”, he said.
Mr Issahaku said those that also have reading problems were being given reading glasses to assist them in their reading, adding that the exercise had been a great success since 2016.
“So many students with visual problems in the Municipality had been assisted to be able to read and write” the Municipal SHEP Coordinator emphasized.
He urged parents to see it as a responsibility to help the children take proper care of the glasses for them to last long to serve the purpose.
“Bliss Eye Care cannot continue to provide the glasses all the time, hence, the need for parents to also make it a responsibility to provide the glasses for their wards when they get damaged”, he said.
Mr Issahaku noted that they have not covered all the circuits within the Municipality yet especially, Boli, Jonga, Nacori, and Kambali circuits and appealed for more support for Bliss Eye Care to continue to carry on with the exercise.
This, he said would ensure that no student dropped out of school due to visual problems.
Madam Zainab Mohammed, a parent noted that her three children were all given medications after the screening, meaning they had sight issues that were unknown to the family.
She thanked Bliss Eye Care and the GES for organizing the exercise to help the children.
Dr Zakarea Al-hassan Balure, an Optometrist and Manager of Bliss Eye Care, said those with suspected glaucoma/other retinal anomalies would be referred to the Regional Hospital in Wa for further assessment.
He said those with ineffective/allergic conjunctivitis were being given medications and eye glasses to help them overcome their challenge.
Dr Balure urged parents to take the personal hygiene of their wards very seriously as it was a major contributor of many of the kids having visual problems.
The exercise is under the, “Blissful Sight for Kids (BS4Ks) project being funded by the Ghana Vision in Switzerland.
