Sightsavers is a non-profit organization that works in 33 countries to protect the rights of people with disabilities and end preventable blindness.
Sightsavers is starting the “School Eye Health Screening” project in Gilgit Baltistan (GB) as part of its mission to promote eye health and deepen its commitment to the people of Gilgit-Baltistan. In this regard, a Letter of Understanding (LoU) has been signed between the Government of Gilgit Baltistan and Sightsavers in Islamabad.
Under this project, Sightsavers will offer screening services for common eye issues to school-age children in Gilgit-Baltistan, as well as free eyeglasses for kids with refractive errors and surgical treatment in collaboration with the department of health.
The screening team will also receive ophthalmic screening equipment from Sightsavers. In addition, Sightsavers has committed to opening a Low Vision and IT Resource Center in the Special Education Complex in Gilgit Baltistan.
Mohyuddin Ahmed Wani, chief secretary of Gilgit-Baltistan, stated that this project addresses one of the most pressing issues, which is the lack of screening facilities for school-age children’s eyes.
He praised Sightsavers for their contribution and stated that this project is bringing the government’s vision of making health facilities accessible to everyone at the grassroots level to fruition.
Secretary of Information Ahmed Khan valued Sightsavers’ initiative. He stated that such initiatives will assist in ensuring students’ good eye health and resolving the issues of school dropout and compromised learning outcomes that are associated with them.
He also said that children who have weak eyesight and other common eye problems suffer because of a lack of awareness and screening facilities.
Sightsavers is a non-profit organization that works in 33 countries to protect the rights of people with disabilities and end preventable blindness.
Since its founding in 1985, Sightsavers has supported more than 0.7 million cataract surgeries and assisted the government and other partner hospitals in examining more than 80 million eye care patients.
Sightsavers has also trained 40,000 schoolteachers to screen children in schools to combat childhood blindness.
Because of this, more than 2 million children in Pakistan have been screened for eye problems, particularly refractive errors, which are the leading cause of school dropout and poor learning outcomes. More than 140,000 children who were found to have poor eye sight have received free glasses from Sightsavers.