Seeing Through a New Lens
How USAID is helping restore child eyesight
Ninety percent of vision loss is preventable or treatable. However, children living in many low- and middle-income countries lack access to the necessary services to prevent or treat visual impairment or blindness.
Children facing impaired vision or blindness face disruptions in their daily life including their ability to play and fully participate at school, which has the potential to impact their overall development. This is distressing to the children and their families, and can also lead to increased hospital bills and other financial hardships. High rates of children impacted by vision impairment or loss can translate to productivity losses and lower earning potential which, in turn, can impact longer-term economic and developmental potential in communities.
USAID supports programs to prevent blindness and restore sight to these children by providing sight-restoring surgery, screening children for eye diseases and conditions, providing eye health education, and training medical staff and community-based workers.
Since 1991, USAID’s Child Blindness Program has awarded $29 million to more than 50 eye care and health NGOs to implement eye-related services and care worldwide, reaching over 7 million children.
School Eye Screening Program in Kenya
In Kenya, 14-year-old Rehema struggled with poor vision. When Rehema was born, her mother noticed blood in her eyes but thought it would resolve itself over time. By the time Rehema joined school, her vision was so bad that she could not read the blackboard. Her eyes became itchy, painful, and teary.
Her teacher noticed her struggles and advised her parents to take her to the hospital, but they could not afford to. Fortunately, a team of teachers trained in eye health with support from USAIDs Child Blindness Program visited Rehema’s school to conduct eye screenings.
USAID’s Child Blindness Program funds a school-based eye screening program in Kenya that has trained close to 60 teachers to use the Peek Acuity smartphone application to identify students with eyesight problems. Since August 2021, the program has screened nearly 24,000 children, and referred an estimated 1,800 children for treatment.
Rehema was one of 224 children screened at her school that day. After the screening, she was referred to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital for specialized eye care and was diagnosed with bilateral cataract, which is a leading cause of blindness in children worldwide.
Rehema underwent surgery free of charge. Today she can read the blackboard comfortably and her mother is ecstatic.
“Now my child can do her homework on her own; she doesn’t have to rely on the others,” Gentrix explained. “I didn’t have money to take my child to hospital, and now I am happy because she has been treated. This program is doing great things to support children who cannot afford health care services.”
Training Rural Health Workers in Eye Health in India
Rimsa hurt her eye while playing hide and seek with her brother, Faiz, and three other kids in her village on the outskirts of Biswan. When the children began quarreling over limited sweets, Rimsa’s eye was unintentionally hit. Her mother tried washing it out with water. But when the immense pain remained, Rimsa’s father took her to see Alkama Bano, a community-based Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) worker who had pediatric eye training supported by USAID’s Child Blindness Program.
Alkama is one of 630 ASHA’s trained in Uttar Pradesh to identify and manage pediatric corneal abrasions. Common in children, corneal abrasions are usually caused by a foreign body in the eye or a scratch from an object or fingernail. Infected abrasions can quickly cause blindness when left untreated.
This program helps increase access to and quality of pediatric eye care, screens children to prevent and treat corneal abrasions and minor infections, and refers children needing more complex treatment or surgery to the regional eye hospital.
After Alkama examined Rimsa’s eyes, she identified a corneal abrasion. Alkma prescribed medication to prevent infection at no cost to Rimsa’s family. A few days later, Rimsa was free from pain and her eye was healed.
Screening to Prevent Child Blindness in Haiti
Haiti has the highest incidence of child blindness in Latin America and the Caribbean. Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP), a disease that causes abnormal blood vessels to grow in the retina and can lead to blindness, is the leading cause of reversible blindness in children under 5 years old. All premature babies are at risk as the smaller the child at birth, the greater the risk of developing ROP.
Unfortunately, screening for ROP is not standard practice in Haiti’s hospitals, even in those with neonatal units. Most families need to travel to another country for treatment in cases of suspected eye disease. Through USAID support, partners are now working in three local hospitals to screen and monitor babies weekly. Since its inception in April 2021, this program has screened 264 premature infants and treated five for ROP.
Among those treated is Christie Anne Bernie, who was born premature at 28-weeks gestation and had advanced ROP in their right eye. Christie’s parents Gerard Geneviève and Bertrand regularly traveled to Haiti’s Saint Damien Hospital for treatment and follow-up care. Eventually, Christie’s eyesight was restored. Mother Gerard Geneviève said, “I’m thrilled that the eyes of my child have been saved, and I’m very thankful to all of the staff of the Saint Damien Hospital.”
USAID’s Child Blindness Program gives families in developing countries around the world access to trained health workers, teachers, and community eye specialists who are equipped with the education, tools, and resources to restore child eyesight.
About the Author
Kossana Young is a communications intern in USAID’s Bureau for Global Health.
