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Author: innexus

Eye Care in Sri Lanka

NiroshanOptometry Giving Sight has provided substantial financial support over the past 7 years to help enhance access to eye care for people in Sri Lanka. 3 Vision Centres have been established and 7 Sri Lankans have obtained their degrees or diplomas in Optometry.

Over the past year, we have contributed to the efforts of the Brien Holden Vision Institute and the University of Colombo in Sri Lanka to establish the country’s first optometry degree program. As a result, eye care in Sri Lanka is gradually becoming recognised by the government as a priority for the country’s health care sector, and as an important profession in the Sri Lankan health system.

There is much enthusiasm for the optometry program in both the government and private sector, with the first intake of 20 students anticipated in January 2015. Around 40 to 50 students will be enrolled in subsequent years to meet the targets of the National Eye Care Plan.

Once they graduate, the students will join the eye care work force, supporting existing structures, creating new infrastructure and sustaining service delivery across the country, making comprehensive eye health services accessible at primary, secondary and tertiary levels.

Niroshan, who took part in a one-year vision technician course in India with the LV Prasad Eye Institute in 2008, now has more than five years of work experience in the Warakapola Vision Centre. He has provided eye examinations to over 12,000 patients. Over the past three years he has also been working in the National Vision 2020 program eye clinics where he has assisted community eye screening projects on a monthly basis, and in 2011, he undertook a diploma course in optometry at the Sri Lanka Foundation.

He is excited about the introduction of the optometry degree program in Sri Lanka as he knows it will strengthen the overall quality of eye care that will be available to local people.

“Most of the people in local communities lack eye health awareness or basic vision care education, so when they hear about our clinic they come to us with life-long, untreated eye conditions including refractive error,” he said.

“It is very common for young children to have eye conditions which are avoidable with earlier treatment, and unfortunately they lead to a stifled or incomplete education and divergent career paths. A sad fact is that many parents do not even know their children are having problems with their vision”.

Niroshan said he recently treated a young girl who was suffering from eyestrain and frontal lobe headaches.

“I examined her and found she was suffering from severe myopia and keratoconus,’ he said. “I prescribed her a pair of spectacles and gave her a referral for the keratoconus to be investigated. Several months later I heard that she had passed her exams, and the following year she managed to get into the University of her choice. She had previously given up on her goal of tertiary education because of her difficulties in seeing.”

Eye Care for Abrehet in Eritrea

EritreaAbheretAbrehet is an ambitious woman with a love for helping people. These two traits have resulted in her pursuing a profession in the health services – Abrehet works as a maternity nurse in a general hospital.

In order to correctly dispense medicine, Abrehet relies heavily on her sight. Without it, she cannot read the labelling on the bottles and cannot precisely give the women she attends to what they need.

Therefore it was a huge problem when, two years ago, Abrehet’s vision started to fail. “In the last six months in particular, it’s been almost impossible for me to do my work. I cannot read patient records and I cannot read medicine labels. I also can’t see the patients’ veins – so it is difficult for me to give intravenous injections.”

“At home, I really struggle to do any household chores. My life is not going well since my vision started to fade,” she added.

A mother of four, Abrehet also used to help her children with their school-work. “Now, this has stopped,” she said. “I can’t see what is written down, so how can I help my children?” she asked.

After visiting the optometry department at the Asmara School of Health Sciences, Abrehet was examined by a student in the department and diagnosed with refractive error. She was given a pair of glasses from the optical workshop lab that had already been processed by the students as part of their cut and fit training.

“I am so happy and so excited,” said Abrehet. “Now, I will be able to work again – to do the job that I love! I will be able to dispense medicine and read the patient records! I’ll be able to do all the things that a nurse is required to do! Thank you so much!”

EritreaFinalAbrehet was so impressed with the service and the treatment she received that she is now going to encourage all her colleagues to visit the optometry department to get their eyes tested. “For us, our vision is vital for our jobs and for our patients. Regular check-ups are therefore necessary. I will make sure to tell my co-workers to come here to get those tests done,” she said.

“Thank you so much for the help! You have changed my life,” said Abrehet.

The Developing Optometry Services program in Eritrea is a partnership between the Brien Holden Vision Institute, Asmara College of Health Sciences and the Eritrean Ministry of Health with funding support from Optometry Giving Sight.

To date 38 students have graduated as Optometry Technicians and are being deployed in Vision Centres across the country to provide refractive error services to the Eritrean population. Each year around 20 new students enrol in the program.

Eyeteach© training in Latin America

AleidaThe EyeTeach© workshops continue to prove a success since launching in Latin America in 2013. The workshops, implemented by Brien Holden Vision Institute and sponsored by Optometry Giving Sight, focus on the development of local optometry in the region and strengthening the professional development of existing eye health practitioners and educators.

17 participants from Bolivia, Colombia and Argentina took part in a recent workshop at the Instituto de Salud, Seguridad Ocupacional y Medio Ambiente (ISSEM), a lead training institute in Bolivia. The curriculum focused on providing professional educators with new teaching methods for the development of optometry in the region, and providing further development for eye health practitioners and educators.

“I was surprised by my own lack of knowledge regarding certain teaching methods, even more so because I was confident with my way of teaching,” said Edson, a new optometry lecturer at ISSEM. “I feel it has allowed me to identify some of my weaknesses and apply new methods in which to motivate and engage with students more effectively”.

Aleida (pictured) , a microbiology lecturer at ISSEM and an epidemiology medical doctor for government health services in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, said that she found the workshop to be challenging and motivating as it identified new teaching techniques she can use.

“I am looking forward to applying these methods in my lectures,” she said. “I would be more than happy to participate in another Institute and Optometry Giving Sight workshop.”

The EyeTeach© workshops contribute to the development of leaders, so in the future they will be able to mentor other faculty and drive the development of optometry standards, both for optometric education and patient care. Optometry Giving Sight will fund more workshops in 2015.

Bringing Accessible Eye Care to Tanzania

TanzaniaBenefiting the community

Thousands of Tanzanians will have access to free eye care services through the Brien Holden Vision Institute, thanks to support from optometrist Dr Moes Nasser and Optometry Giving Sight.

The Lake Zone Roshanali Nasser Outreach Project aims to screen 14,000 primary school pupils and provide outreach services to more than 6000 people in the Lake Zone.

The project builds upon previous initiatives in the area and will allow the Institute to continue developing local capacity and sustainable eye care services.

For Tanzanian-born Dr Nasser the project is close to his heart, named after his late father Roshanali Nasser, who held a life-long commitment to the wellbeing of the Simiyu and Nyambiti communities.

Growing up in Tanzania and experiencing hardship put Dr Nasser on a path to helping others, ultimately leading to his successful career in optometry and desire to give back.

“Giving sight to people really does give back to humanity and in my profession it feels that way in every examination. I want to be able to extend this life giving service to the people in the communities of my youth,” says Dr Nasser.

Dr Nasser will be returning to Tanzania to launch the project in his childhood district, alongside Brien Holden Vision Institute and Optometry Giving Sight.

Tanzania

After 5 years of effort – Haiti story

haitiAfter 5 years of effort by the global optometric community – Haiti’s first School of Optometry opens

Vision Source Optometrists and Optometry Giving Sight Support the Training of Haiti’s First Optometrists

Haiti has the highest level of blindness and vision impairment in the region and most of this is avoidable. It is 3 time higher than other countries in the region. An important reason for this is the critical shortage of qualified eye care personnel. In a country of over 10 million people, there are only 3 local optometrists.

April 12th, 2018 marked the official opening of Haiti’s first ever School of Optometry & Vision Sciences at the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy of I’Université d’État d’Haïti.

Over the last five years, Optometry Giving Sight and its partners from the global optometric community have come together to ensure that the  people of Haiti can be trained to help their own communities, their country, and their fellow Haitians see a better future, quite literally, for generations to come.

This need for sustainable development is obvious. Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the northern hemisphere yet working isn’t always an option, even for skilled tradespeople. Roc VilÍus, a Haitian shoe maker is just one example. “I can’t make a living without having my sight,” said Roc. Thanks to the efforts of Optometry Giving Sight and its partners, Mr. VilÍus was given glasses and is now able to support his family once again.

The shortage of eye care services leaves the majority of the Haitian people without adequate vision care. The school’s 5-year degree programme will seek to graduate 16 optometrists per year. “The new graduates will have a significant impact for the eye care landscape in Haiti”, explains Dr. Juan Carlos Aragon, Chair of Optometry Giving Sight, “each being able to see 3,000 patients per year on average.”

Drs. Susan and Tom Quinn, Vision Source optometrists from Ohio and Optometry Giving Sight supporters for over ten years, travelled to Haiti this week to take part in the school’s first community outreach programs. “We’ve seen firsthand how the work of Optometry Giving Sight delivers on the vision of building optometry schools, educating talented local young people and providing continuity of care in underserved countries around the globe…We believe this school has the potential to profoundly transform lives.”

Jeff Duncan, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer for Vision Source, major donor and partner to the project said “With virtually no optometrists, there has been limited opportunity for the Haitians to obtain quality vision care. Vision Source feels privileged to play a role in helping build a sustainable foundation to change this. Partnering with Optometry Giving Sight, underscores Vision Source’s mission of ‘enriching lives by enabling independent optometrists to reach their full potential’.”

It’s this sustainable attitude from the global optometric community that has brought them together with Optometry Giving Sight – a mission to provide vision care in Haiti and around the world. Together with, the I’Université d’État d’Haïti, Brien Holden Vision Institute, VOSH International, Charity Vision, I’Université de Montréal, Vision Source, Essilor Canada and Digicel Foundation and many other integral supporters, there is sight for the people of Haiti.

Technician Training Course in Malawi

MalawiTrainingEmpowering local ECPs to maintain their own equipment

One of the biggest challenges for many eye health programs in the developing world is equipment maintenance. Many clinics, hospitals and vision centers are unable to operate at their full potential because their equipment is broken or in need of maintenance, and there are no local people with the training needed to carry out even relatively minor repairs.

Dr. Howard Purcell, Senior Vice President, Customer Development Group with Essilor of America, witnessed this first hand when he visited the School of Optometry at Mzuzu University in Malawi in November 2015.

Two years later, with funding kindly provided by Essilor of America, the first Ophthalmic Instrument Maintenance Training Course was held in Malawi from September 4-15, 2017. Eleven trainees participated in the course, including one Optometrist, four Optometry Technicians, five Medical Engineering Technicians and one Biomedical Engineer.

Over eleven days, trainers from Lions Aravind Institute of Community Ophthalmology in India showed the trainees how to dismantle and clean an ophthalmoscope and a slit lamp; and to identify and repair various mechanical faults. They also worked with indirect ophthalmoscopes and retinoscopes.

The trainees were introduced to the working principles of Keratometers, including how to clean and calibrate non-working units; and they were able to analyse and fix a fault on a Sonomed Pacscan 300A.

They conducted fault finding on seven sets of Phoropters and were able to fix three that had mechanical faults. They also worked with a tonometer, operating microscopes and learned how to sharpen surgical instruments.

Teacher Training Program at Alandur

india storyEye health training in India

With support from Optometry Giving Sight,
India Vision Institute (IVI) conducted a series of teachers’ training programs in India.
They were held from from 4-11 October, for 61 teachers in 36 government and government-aided schools in Avadi, Ayanambakkam, Koladai, Veeragavapuram, Sundracholavaram, Pattabiram and Nanganallur, Chennai district, Tamil Nadu.
The teachers were trained in basics of eye health practices and to identify children with vision problems who might need professional intervention.
They will lead vision screening in their respective schools and identify children who need subsequent examinations by an optometrist.
The schools were also provided with the necessary screening kit to conduct the initial screening.
This model aims to strengthen the continuum of primary eye care services delivered to children in government supported
schools.
You can support the training of eye health workers by donating to much needed projects today.

2017 Highlights

2017 highlightsYour support at work

Optometry Giving Sight in 2017 produced many wonderful stories from people whose lives were impacted through your donations.

We would like to thank all our sponsors and donors for your ongoing support.

One area that has given us the greatest impact in 2017 has been through the ongoing funding we have provided to help support Schools of Optometry across 11 countries.

Thanks to your help, there are now 783 students studying for their Optometry Degree or Diploma at 14 Schools and Colleges. This is an incredible outcome, as having locally trained optometrists is ultimately the most effective way to help people who are needlessly vision impaired.

2017 highlights

This is why we were so excited to welcome an additional 102 new graduates in 2017 to bring the total number to 559 graduates since 2008. By our estimates, all these graduates from the last few years will have the capacity to give sight and hope to an amazing 939,120 people each year.

2017 highlights

Since 2007, Optometry Giving Sight has distributed funding to more than 117 projects in over 40 countries.

Currently there are 47 projects funded by Optometry Giving Sight in 24 countries. These projects cover the training of local eye care professionals, establishing vison centres that provide access to sustainable vision care and by delivering eye care and low cost/no cost glasses. In addition, we have supported community education and advocacy activities to raise the awareness of the importance of eye health and promoted the role of Optometrists as primary eye care providers.

Thank you again for helping us to transform the lives of people in need. We look forward to your continuing support for even greater outcomes in 2018.

CooperVision employees Fight for Sight

cooper-story$262,000 donated to Optometry Giving Sight

With artwork auctions, bake sales, jeans days, raffles, barbeques and walkathons, CooperVision and its employees hit a record-breaking high this year with their fundraising efforts for the 2018 World Sight Day Challenge.

CooperVision donated $262,000 to Optometry Giving Sight for this years’ challenge, taking their combined World Sight Day Challenge donations over the $1 million mark.

Employees rolled up their sleeves and got creative with their fundraising initiatives, donating 35 per cent more than last year, which was supported by a matching commitment from the company. Over 40 CooperVision sites and teams got involved to drive awareness and raise much-needed funds which will go towards supporting sustainable and access eye care projects across the world.

“The incredible generosity displayed by our global employees will help to ensure much needed vision care for thousands of adults and children in need,” said Dan McBride, President, CooperVision. “Our record-breaking 2018 World Sight Day Challenge donation represents approximately 52,000 eye exams for people around the world who could otherwise be at risk for a range of vision challenges. The expert care they’ll receive will not only provide near-term benefits, but in many cases a lifetime of greater opportunity through the gift of sight.”

CooperVision’s support is a great example of a holistic partnership, showing the importance of empowering staff to get involved and give back. For Optometry Giving Sight, longstanding partnerships with multiple touchpoints gives us the security to invest long-term into programs and services that will provide sustainable and lasting outcomes for the communities they’re located in.

CooperVision is a partner and Global Gold Sponsor of Optometry Giving Sight. Beyond its World Sight Day Challenge initiative, the company also contributes substantial funds through a patient rebate donation program in the United States.

We’d like to thank CooperVision and their employees for their support this year and congratulate them on their fundraising efforts!

World Sight Day Challenge 2017

WHelping to Make Children’s Vision Count

Optometry Giving Sight is once again inviting all those who value good vision to support its major fundraising campaign for the year, the World Sight Day Challenge. The Challenge will run throughout October – with World Sight Day being celebrated on Thursday October 12th.

 

 

 

AlyssaThis year’s campaign will help to raise funds for more children like Alyssa (pictured left) – a young girl from the southwest of Mexico who received her first pair of glasses last year thanks to a child eye health project that is funded in part by Optometry Giving Sight. In her words: “Everything that was wrong is now in the past. Nothing can stop me now!”

As part of its support for Our Children’s Vision, Optometry Giving Sight will fund projects that give sight and hope to more than 1 million children in 2017.

“It’s sobering to be reminded that seven hundred years after glasses were invented, there are still children in the world suffering from severe vision loss,” said Dr. Juan Carlos Aragon, Global Chair of Optometry Giving Sight. “This not only creates frustration and learning difficulties for the children affected, but can impact their future productivity and earning potential.”

For the past 10 years, thousands of Optometrists, their staff, patients, students and colleagues in industry have taken the World Sight Day Challenge by making a tax-deductible donation and / or by raising funds in their practice, school or company.

 

“It’s simple and fun to do,” said Clive Miller, Global CEO of Optometry Giving Sight. “We have materials to help promote your involvement, lots of fun fundraising ideas, and information that you can share that shows how your donations are having an impact on the lives of children in need.”

DON_MATSUMOTODr. Don Matsumoto from Pacific Eyecare Center (pictured left), CA has been participating in the World Sight Day Challenge for many years.

“Optometry Giving Sight is part of our DNA,” he said. “It’s a true feel good experience. My staff is constantly looking for ways to fundraise and we change it up in our office all the time. What a surprise is how our patients have taken to giving. They want to be part of the experience as well. It’s become a new business model.”

To donate, or pledge your participation by selecting one of our Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum Award levels, please visit here.

For more information on Our Children’s Vision visit www.ourchildrensvision.org