Kajiado county to conduct eye screening to mark World Sight Day

A medic attends to a patient during past World Sight Day. [File, Standard]

To many Gospel music lovers, Reuben Kigame is a household name. The award-winning Gospel music artiste, teacher, father, husband, and journalist who was feted by former President Mwai Kibaki for his exemplary work in the industry, lost his sight at the age of three while having dinner.

Even though he says the loss of his eyesight- caused by cataracts, could have been prevented, the vision impairment has never been a barrier to his ambitions. He contested for the presidency in the 2022 General Election and is currently pursuing a PhD in World Christianity.

Currently, more than 1.1 billion people live with vision loss worldwide, and 90 per cent is avoidable or treatable, according to The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB).

The number of blind people in Kenya has continued to increase even as the government decries the low number of eye specialists. As of 2021, an estimated 224,000 people were blind while another 750,000 were visually impaired. According to health experts, age-related blindness is also increasing throughout the world, as is blindness due to uncontrolled diabetes. Some of the leading causes of chronic blindness include cataracts, glaucoma, age-related degeneration, diabetes and trachoma. Research shows that 40 per cent of childhood blindness is preventable or treatable. 

World Sight Day is an annual day of awareness, held on the second Thursday of October every year, to draw attention and action to vision loss in the world. The focus of World Sight Day for 2024 is child eye health. Vision loss and eye health care are highly correlated with complex and interconnected development issues such as the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. 

To raise awareness of the importance of child eye health in learning and gaining an education, Operation Eyesight Universal will be conducting a student eye screening at St. Marks Academy in Kajiado North Sub-County on October 8, 2024, to highlight the importance of child eye health. The screening is one of multiple activities taking place leading up to and following World Sight Day on October 10, which focuses on child eye health this year. 

The activity will see 240 learners and teachers screened. It is part of a four-year eye health program called the Vision Impact Project (VIP), which aims to reduce visual impairment and avoidable blindness in Kajiado County. VIP is implemented by Operation Eyesight Universal in partnership with Kajiado County Government and funded by CBM Christion Blind Mission. In addition, eye screenings will be taking place at Operation Eyesight’s partner hospitals in Narok County, Uasin Gishu County, Nandi County and Kajiado County. 

Caroline Ikumu, the Program Manager, says, “Child eye health is a significant public health issue. Thousands of children in Kenya are needlessly blind or visually impaired. These children are not able to achieve their maximum potential, given that 80 per cent of learning is visual.”

Ikumu adds that, “diagnosing eye problems early can help minimise damage and makes treatment faster and more effective, hence the need to support screening of children in schools and in the community.”

She emphasizes the need to educate parents on the importance of helping children to access eye health care. 

Kashinath Bhoosnurmath, President and CEO of Operation Eyesight Universal and elected trustee of IAPB, says, “Every day, preventable and treatable eye health issues cause children to miss out on learning and social opportunities. They do not just deserve but have the right to a happy childhood. Healthy eyes enable kids to learn, play and thrive, setting them on a path for life.” Through support from generous donors around the world, Operation Eyesight has been providing eye health care and child eye health for more than 60 years in Africa and South Asia. 

According to the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, 450 million children worldwide have an eye condition that requires treatment while 90 million children live with some form of sight loss. Children with vision loss in low- to middle-income countries are two to five times less likely to attend school. Wearing prescription spectacles can also reduce class failure rates by 44 per cent.