World Sight Day: Eye tests provide early warning signs for vision loss and can save your sight
Sponsored by The Fred Hollows Foundation
By Mark Adams Maina, Global Communications Coordinator, The Fred Hollows Foundation
The Fred Hollows Foundation (The Foundation) is an international non-government development organisation. Since 1992, the Foundation has worked with governments and other stakeholders in 20 countries across Africa and Asia to tackle the problem of avoidable blindness and visual impairment, and empower communities to run sustainable eye health services.
Our Vision is a world in which no person is needlessly blind or vision-impaired. Our goal therefore is to reach zero prevalence of avoidable blindness and vision impairment, with a focus on equity.
In Kenya, our work is spread across 24 counties, where we work in partnership with government and private health facilities since 2004. Our focus is to make eye health an integral part of Universal Health Coverage (UHC), so that no one is left behind. We do this through life-changing surgeries and treatments, training doctors and allied health care workers, generating new ideas, and pushing for change at all levels. Specifically, we pursue four strategic objectives to deliver our impact through diverse partnerships, as follows:
- Advance eye health in Universal Health Coverage: For Kenya to achieve its goal of UHC, it is critical that eye health is integrated into all levels of the health system, and that key health systems gaps are systematically addressed.
- Improve eye health outcomes by strengthening the quality of services: There is a need to promote high-quality surgery with a good visual outcome through routine cataract surgical outcome monitoring, and effective cataract surgical coverage (ECSC).
- Strengthen the enabling environment for the provision of comprehensive eye health services: To support the delivery of sustainable integrated people-centred eye care, increased capacity and effectiveness is needed across all the WHO’s six building blocks of the health system.
- Contribute to the elimination of trachoma as a public health problem in Kenya: The Government of Kenya, along with its partners, have made significant progress towards the elimination of trachoma. However, there is still more to be done to reach WHO’s elimination threshold.
Over the past five years, The Foundation has improved or protected the sight of more than 800,000 people, and saved almost 6.5 million years of sight.
Ms Jane Ohuma, The Fred Hollows Foundation Cluster lead for Rwanda, Burundi and Kenya, says: “In nine out of 10 cases, blindness and vision impairment can be avoided when addressed and treated early. But it all starts with educating people. We can drastically reduce the chances of someone going blind if they have the right eye health knowledge, and get their eyes tested regularly. Our campaign will reach thousands of people and encourage them to take better care of their eyes.”
Since 2018, The Foundation has developed new ways to measure the impact of its work by estimating the cases of blindness and vision impairment we have helped to avert, and calculating the years of sight saved.
The Foundation is unique in its approach. We not only support treating patients, but also focus on strengthening health systems, equipping hospitals, training eye health teams, and working with health authorities and other partners to empower communities to manage and deliver services nearer to where people live.
The Foundation is also a leading international voice advocating for increased investment in eye health. We are proud of our record of training future generations of skilled eye health care workers, building local capacities, driving innovation, and advocating for the integration of eye health into national health systems.
Investing in the eye health needs of the population is one of the least expensive and high impact interventions that will provide a positive economic return and contribute to stronger national health systems.
