The Nigeria Optometric Association (NOA), Taraba State Chapter, has embarked on an aggressive approach to assist the visually-impaired pupils in Elementary Schools across Taraba State.
As part of the development, the Association embarked on free vision screening and presentation of free spectacles to deserving pupils to enhance their visual capabilities
Speaking at the flag off ceremony of the free visual screening programme which formed part of the Association’s week-long serries of activities commemorating the 2024 Word Sight Day, Grace Ahams-Akor, chairperson, NOA, Taraba State, explained that the Association was aimed at not just identifying children who have uncorrected eye refraction error, but also to ensuring that the deserving pupils receive the right glasses and prescriptions.
Ahams-Akor identified uncorrected refraction error as one of the most common eyes challenges affecting children all over the world, stating that NOA, was making frantic efforts to engage Taraba State Ministry of Health, relevant Stakeholders and Agencies to accelerate the visual screening exercise and to ensure that even schools in hard-to-reach areas of the State were also captured in the programme.
Read also: World Sight Day 2024: Prioritising eye health, preventing blindness in Nigeria
Stressing the importance of clear vision, specifically among children, she noted that a child’s vision determines his self esteem, his confidence and the way he relate with people.
She urged parents to cultivate the spirit of yearly evaluation of their children’s eyes, maintaining that a pair of spectacles was the simplest and easiest health intervention that could be given to a child.
“We have earlier gone to various schools within the state capital as part of activities marking the 2024 World Sight day with the theme: Love your eyes, vision for children, to sensitize children on certain hazards they need to avoid to protect their eyes. There are lots of childhood injuries that results to damaging condition of the eyes that can lead to blindness which the children need to know.
“Meanwhile, with the support of our national body, we have here with us enough glasses and we intend to go to various schools in the state to carry out this exercise. When a child fail the visual activity test, we subject the child to further examination and the result tells us weather the child deserves to be given glasses or be recommended for further treatment”, the doctor explained.
Responding, Bordiya Buma, the Commissioner for Health, Taraba State, appreciated NOA for keying into the health service agenda of Governor Agbu Kefas-led administration, pledging that the State Government would continue to support the Association to succeed.
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