Bliss Eye Care, a Wa based Eye clinic has organized free eye screening for school children in communities within the Dorimon Circuit in the Wa West District.
The free eye screening excise was organized by Bliss Eye Care in collaboration with Madam Khalida M. A. Seidu, an indigene of Maase, a community near Dorimon who also doubles as women and children advocate with the Sungbawiera Foundation in Wa.
Over 600 children and adults went through the screening, out of which 123 were said to have had normal eyes, 495 were diagnosed with pathological conditions and were given medications, and 18 had refractive errors and were given eyeglasses for free while six had cataracts and glaucoma.
The intervention, which was through the Blissful Sight for Kids (BS4K) project, will help save the children from dropping out school due to eye problems.
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.
"My sister stopped schooling because she was having eye problems. Sometimes she cannot even see", Blessing Booni, explained.
She was, therefore, grateful to the organizers for the intervention which would save her from also dropping out of school as the sister had done.
Dr. Zakria Al-hassan Blure, the Manager of Bliss Eye Care, encouraged parents and guardians to take advantage of such exercises to screen their wards since it was expensive to access that service from the health facility.
He encouraged parents and guardians to take advantage of such exercises to screen their wards since it was expensive to access that service from the health facility.
Madam Seidu, also a lecturer at Dr. Hilla Limann Technical University (DHLTU), observed that good sights for children played an important role in their education.
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.