Seventeen
year old school girl Shasikala Dilrukshi sits engrossed in a
book on the verandah of her home. A simple scenario played out
everyday all over the world. But one that for Shasikala was
unthinkable only two months ago.
‘My eyes got all teary and my head hurt when I strained
to read’, she recalls. ‘When I was at school I couldn’t
even see the blackboard properly. I had to ask my friend for
the notes because I couldn’t focus on what was written.
My sister and I shared one pair of spectacles as my family could
not afford to buy me my own pair.’
In a house close to Shasikala’s lives 37 year old dressmaker
Jasintha Fernando, who first started having difficulties with
her vision while working abroad. On returning home she received
spectacles from the Colombo Eye Hospital, which helped her sight
and enabled her to continue to work. However, the December 2004
tsunami reversed all that when her spectacles, along with her
livelihood, were swept away.
But now, thanks to the support of Australian Red Cross and the
International Organization for Migration (IOM), Shashikala is
the proud owner of a brand new pair of spectacles. The headaches
have gone and she is now able to keep up with her classmates.
Jasintha is also back to work and bringing in an income after
she received a pair of spectacles to replace the ones that she
lost in the tsunami.
Thousands of people like Sashikala and Jasintha have so far
benefited from the joint Australian Red Cross/IOM project that
aims to tackle visual impairment by bringing optometric and
ophthalmologic care services to six tsunami-affected districts
in the South and East of Sri Lanka.
By the end of August 2006, 50,000 people had been screened,
and 40,000 pairs of spectacles distributed. Over 3,500 people
have also been referred for cataract operations.
‘During the course of the project, we hope to provide
about 100,000 people with ophthalmic screening, spectacles for
75,000 people, and possibly refer more than 7,000 others for
cataract surgery’, says Dr. Qasim Sufi, IOM’s Health
Coordinator in Sri Lanka.
The project involves eye clinics being set up for one or two
weeks in schools, temples, and other easily accessible community
locations. Banners and notices advertising the free service
are posted a month or so prior to the arrival of the clinics,
while auto-rickshaws with microphones drive around the streets
promoting the project.
The clinics are run by professionally trained optometrists who
can identify sight problems, provide treatment for eye infections,
distribute spectacles, or provide referrals to district hospitals
for further assistance such as cataract operations.
Through the success of the first camps in Kalutara and Matara
Districts, the Ministry of Health is also using the clinics
as an entry point to provide a range of services, such as health
education campaigns for HIV/Aids, nutrition programs, and even
dental services.
The project is not only addressing the needs of tsunami affected
families. It is also contributing to the long-term sustainability
of Sri Lanka’s healthcare system, building local capacity
to ensure the eye care needs of the population will continue
to be met in the future.
Australian Red Cross and IOM are conducting training programmes
for over 230 specialist eye care nurses and occupational therapists,
and a further 200 primary eye care workers and medical officers
in the six districts. In addition, Eye Care Units in the district
hospitals will receive basic medical equipment and supplies
for diagnosis and care of eye problems, whilst communities will
receive increased education on the major causes and prevention
of visual impairment.
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Elderly
tsunami victims wait their turn for eye testing, electing
to sit down under a banner in the shade rather than stand
in the queue. (p14751)
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A
young child is having her eyes tested. The children and
elderly are separated into different queues so the facilities
can be specially targeted towards their needs. (p14752)
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Many
people queue to get their eyes tested: on this day, over
1500 people were tested! In the large school hall, many
tables are set up for individuals to have their eyes tested
by qualified optometrists. (p14753)
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