Madam Pascaline Ninfaakang, the Nandom Municipal Director of the Ghana Education Service (GES), has reiterated the importance of good eyesight of school children in ensuring effective learning.
She said that, notwithstanding, some children with different eye problems were unable to access treatment due to ignorance of the condition or their inability to afford treatment.
Madam Ninfaakang disclosed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at Nandom during an eye screening exercise, organised by Bliss Eye Care, a private eye clinic in Wa.
It was organised in partnership with the Nandom Municipal Education Directorate under the Blissful Sight for Kids (BS4Ks) project being implemented by the eye clinic.
Thousands of children in the Upper West Region and beyond had received free eye screening and treatment under the project since its inception about eight years ago.
Of the 486 children who went through the screening, 108 had normal eyes, 345 had pathological issues relating to medication, 22 had refractive errors relating to eyeglasses and eleven had cataract and glaucoma.
Madam Ninfaakang indicated that the initiative by Bliss Eye Care was timely since it would help in the detection of eye conditions among the school children for treatment.
The number of children who turned up for the screening showed the seriousness they attached to the intervention, she said.
“This will go a long way to help the children who didn’t know they have eye problems to know and those that knew but cannot afford the treatment to receive the service,” she said.
She commended Bliss Eye Care and its partners for the gesture and expressed the hope that it would be a periodic exercise to enable the children to have regular eye screening.
Mr Martin Gangmur, the In-Charge of the Eye Clinic at the St. Theresa’s Hospital (Nandom Hospital), said: “Some of the children have very high pressures and when that happens for a long time it will damage the nerves that enable a person to see, and the person gradually becomes blind.”
The children diagnosed with eye problems were given medications, those who needed eyeglasses were offered for free, while those whose conditions could not be managed were referred to the hospital for further attention.
Stressing the need for regular eye check-ups, Mr Gangmur explained that: “Everyone needs eye checkup at least once a year to have good eyesight.”
He appealed to parents to send their children to health facilities to access treatment for their eye problems rather than resorting to traditional medication such as tying rope on the child’s neck to treat an eye condition.
Mr Ali Amin Seidu, the Nandom Municipal School Health Education Programme (SHEP) Coordinator, said the eye screening would enhance teaching and learning since children with eye problems would be identified and treated so they could participate actively in academic activities.
While expressing gratitude to Bliss Eye Care for the service offered to the children, he encouraged parents to take the eye health of their children seriously.
Madam Ernestina Aleser, a Teacher at Bu Primary School in Nandom, said it was important for the children to check their eyes regularly for timely detection and treatment of any condition.
