By Samira Larbie
Accra, Oct 10, GNA- The Eye Care Unit of the Ghana Health Service (GHS) has urged parents and caregivers to prioritize their children’s eye health to help reduce disabilities.
Dr. Hornametor Afake, the head of the Eye Care Unit, who made the appeal at a press conference in Accra to officially launch the 2024 World Sight Day, emphasised the importance of early detection of visual impairments and eye-related issues for timely treatment.
He advised that parents should be particularly alert if their children avoid reading, sit too close to the TV, hold books too near, squint frequently, complain of headaches, have a short attention span, rub their eyes often, show white spots in their eyes, struggle to keep their place while reading, or experience twitching eyelids.
The Day is being marked under the theme “Let’s Prioritise Child Eye Health.”
The annual World Sight Day, observed on October 10, aims to raise awareness about blindness and vision impairment as significant public health and development issues.
Vision is the most dominant of the five senses and plays a crucial role in all aspects of life.
Globally, approximately 450 million children have sight conditions requiring treatment, with around 90 million living with some form of sight loss. In Ghana, 0.74 percent of the population, or about 230,000 people, are blind, while 1.07 percent, representing around 332,000 individuals, experience severe visual impairment.
The prevalence of blindness is notably higher in rural areas compared to urban centers.
Children under 15 years make up about 37.1 percent of Ghana’s total population, equating to approximately 11.5 million.
The leading causes of vision impairment include uncorrected refractive errors, cataracts, age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, corneal opacity, and trachoma.
Dr. Afake said that research had shown that 40 per cent of blind children could be managed or their conditions prevented with access to quality eye care services.
He stressed that children represented the future workforce of any nation and highlighted the need for effective strategies to ensure their health and well-being.
Dr. Afake urged the government and non-governmental organisations to invest more in eye health programmes and to expedite the completion of the National Eye Health Policy.
He also called on the National Health Insurance Scheme to include spectacles in their benefit package and make them free for children diagnosed with myopia and refractive errors.
Dr. Hafiz Adam Taher, Director of External Health Cooperation and Technical Coordination at the Ministry of Health, stated that World Sight Day is a national issue that necessitates support from partners.
He encouraged stakeholders to act as ambassadors for enhancing child eye health across the country.
Mrs. Theresah Oppong-Mensah, Director of the School Health Education Programme at the Ghana Education Service (GES), underscored the importance of good eyesight and expressed her office’s commitment to supporting initiatives that promote child eye health.
She noted that in the 2023-2024 academic year, the GES, in partnership with Operation Eyesight Ghana, Orbis International, and Anikat Community Center, screened 66,259, 53,770, and over 18,000 learners, respectively, in both basic and senior high schools.
The Ghana Health Service, along with partners, will organize free eye screenings and distribute free spectacles to children in commemoration of the 2024 World Sight Day.
The initiative aims to promote child eye health and ensure every child has the clear vision necessary to reach their full potential.
GNA