NAIROBI, Oct 11 (NNN-XINHUA) — Over 80,000 Kenyan school-going children are struggling with eye health challenges including short or long-sightedness amid threats to their career aspirations, said a report from the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) on Thursday in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.
Released on the World Sight Day which falls on Oct. 10 this year, the report, titled “Better Education in Sight,” disclosed that Kenyan children lose nearly 25,000 years of schooling every year due to poor vision.
Peter Holland, chief executive of the IAPB, said that with uncorrected refractive errors, the academic outcome for Kenyan children and youth is in jeopardy, hence the need for investing in regular eye screening and treatment.
“We urge health and education sector players to improve access to vision screenings and eyeglasses for school children,” Holland said, adding that learning institutions should encourage students to undergo routine eye checkups.
The theme for 2024 World Sight Day, “Children, love your eyes,” underscores the importance of raising awareness about vision impairment and promoting proper eye care for the young generation.
Addressing children’s eye health crisis could add an additional earning of over 14.7 billion KES (113.95 million U.S. dollars) to the Kenyan economy, according to the report compiled by IAPB in conjunction with Seva Foundation, an international health charity.
Victor Opiyo, president of the Optometrists Association of Kenya, said that improved eye health among children will translate into quality adulthood characterized by gainful employment.
“For example, if a five-year-old is provided with glasses in primary school and continues to wear them until they are 18, they will earn, on average, 125 percent more lifetime income than if they never had their vision corrected,” Opiyo said.
Opiyo added that capacity building for opticians coupled with investment in modern diagnostic machines will be key to boosting early detection and treatment of vision challenges among Kenyan school children. — NNN-XINHUA