A total of 16 school children in communities within the Dorimon Circuit in the Wa West District who would have had their education truncated as a result of poor eyesight, have been saved through the Blissful Sight for Kids (BS4K) project.
Blessing Booni, a beneficiary from Kyeatanga, who was given eyeglasses to aid her vision, said the elder sister had already dropped out of school due to her poor vision.
Two adults in the Dorimon community who also went through the screening and were diagnosed with eye defects were also provided with eyeglasses.
Out of the 642 children and adults who went through the screening, 123 had normal eyes, 495 had pathological conditions and were given medications, and 18 had refractive errors and were given eyeglasses for free while six had cataracts and glaucoma.
Bliss Eye Care, a private eye clinic in Wa, organised the free eye screening in collaboration with Madam Khalida M. A. Seidu, an indigene of Maase community near Dorimon who was also a women and children advocate with the Sungbawiera Foundation in Wa.
“My sister stopped schooling because she was having eye problems. Sometimes she cannot even see. Me too, I cannot see far, when I am in class, I have to get closer to the board before I can see small. I find it difficult to write in the exercise book”, Blessing Booni, explained.
She was, therefore, grateful to the organisers for the intervention to save her from dropping out of school as her sister had done.
Dr. Zakria Al-hassan Blure, the Manager of Bliss Eye Care, said one other child was diagnosed with amblyopia, combined with other conditions, and needed assistance to access education from a special school.
He encouraged parents and guardians to take advantage of such exercises to screen their wards since accessing that service from the health facility was expensive.
“On the average, the treatment will cost around GH₵2,000.00 because the frame we are giving her (Blessing Booni) is of high prescription”, Dr. Balure said.
Madam Seidu, who was also a lecturer at the Dr. Hilla Limann Technical University (DHLTU), observed that good sights for children played an important role in their education.
“Eyes are very delicate and we are encouraging the kids to go to school and without eyes, they cannot do it effectively, so eye screening is important for them”, she explained.
Madam Seidu observed with concern that most people, especially in rural communities, did not take their eye care seriously because some eye conditions detected during the screening should have been reported to the health facility earlier.
She said plans were in place to organise a similar exercise for the children within the Dabo Circuit also in the Wa West District.
Mr Patrick Mornaa, the West District School Health Programme (SHEP) Coordinator, said the screening would lead to early detection of children with eye problems for treatment, as that was necessary for improving their learning outcomes.
“Most of the children have eye problems but unknowingly, their teachers tend to worry them. Through the free screening we will detect these problems early and treat them”, he explained.
