4% of children have eyesight problems
School-aged and non-school-aged children between the ages of 6 and 18 were examined as part of the experiment, which ran from 2018 to 2022.
KATHMANDU: Around 800,000 children have benefitted from the Nepal Reach initiative, which is operated in conjunction with Nepal Netra Jyoti Sangh and Arvis.
Four percent of the youngsters evaluated had eyesight issues.
785 thousand 460 children from Jhapa, Morang, Parsa, Sunsari, and Siraha districts have had free eye examinations as part of this programme run by Nepal Netra Jyoti Sangh with financial help from Arvis.
School-aged and non-school-aged children between the ages of 6 and 18 were examined as part of the experiment, which ran from 2018 to 2022.
According to Ranjan Shah, program manager of Nepal Netra Jyoti Sangh, free glasses and surgery were also supplied to children who had concerns following the eye test.
Over the course of four years, 2,555 students from private and public schools had their eyes checked as part of this campaign.
According to Shah, during the inspection, 20,380 children with visual difficulties received free glasses, and 201 children received free eye surgery.
According to Shah, only 63 percent of the glasses distributed after eye examination are regularly used by children. “It seems that children don’t wear glasses regularly for reasons such as friends teasing them when they wear glasses, parents not allowing their daughters to wear glasses as they say it will be difficult for them to get married, they don’t feel comfortable wearing glasses and they feel shy,” said Shah.
“The educational level of those students has also improved as a result of the regular use of the glasses distributed in this manner, and it appears that there has been a lot of change in their daily life,” Shah added.
The program was conducted in these districts through Nepal Netra Jyoti Sangh RM Kedia Eye Hospital, Nepal Netra Jyoti Sangh Sagarmatha Chaudhary Eye Hospital, Nepal Netra Jyoti Sangh Biratnagar Eye Hospital and Mechi Eye Hospital.
According to Dr. Shailesh Kumar Mishra, executive director of Nepal Netra Jyoti Sangh, the organization is arranging numerous free camps around the nation in partnership with other donor organizations to guarantee that no person is denied eye care treatments due to a lack of access or funds.
Basic training on eye examination was also provided to women health volunteers, teachers and school vision ambassadors of the project-run district.
