Parents urged to know the visual status of their children

Gwollu, (U/W), May 23, GNA – Dr. Zackarea Al-hassan Balure, an Optometrist and Manager of Bliss Eye Care has encouraged parents to take interest in knowing the visual status of their children early to avoid grievous consequences in future.

He noted that negligence on the part of parents could have negative impact on the child’s future aspirations and must be guarded against.

Dr. Balure gave the encouragement at Gwollu during a free eye screen exercise for school kids in the Sissala West District of the Upper West Region.

He expressed disappointment that most parents did not accompany their children to participate in the free screening, noting that, this was a great opportunity for them to know the visual status of their ward.

The Optometrist listed conjunctivitis, cataract, and refractive errors among others as some of the issues found during the screening, saying that, these could be addressed accordingly.

He said the Bliss Eye Care’s Blissful Sight for Kids (BS4Ks) project which is being sponsored by Ghana Vision in Switzerland, had already provided free eye care services to school kids in 10 districts out of the 11 districts in the region.

Dr. Balure said over 300 glasses and drugs had been given out to the kids, some of whom were now sharing great testimonies, indicating the successes chalked by the project in the region.

He said with the right kind of support, Bliss Eye Care was determined to ensure that children in the region were guaranteed good eye sight to enable them to achieve their aspirations in life.

Mr. Mohammed Bakor, the Sissala West District Chief Executive (DCE) bemoaned the lack of a functional eye clinic in the region, but was quick to add that government had plans to give the district a befitting district hospital which would include a functional eye clinic.

He expressed appreciation to Bliss Eye Care for providing key services to these children for free, adding that, most of the children identified to have various eye defects risked being blind in the future due to poverty.

He said the Assembly was prepared to support in the mobilization of the children for such eye screening exercises.

Mr. Amatus Dery, Special Education Coordinator for the Sissala West District noted that sometimes, teachers cane these children for exhibiting a certain behaviour in class ignorantly, adding that, the screening will help teachers to know the children with eye problems so that they could pay special attention to them in class.

GNA

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