Project Be Their Vision 8.0- phase 3
"Clear vision ahead: spreading awareness about eye health”
“Sight
Save” aimed to increase the knowledge of the Sri Lankan community about visual
impairment and the precautions that can be taken to prevent it.
According
to the World Health Organization, nearly a million in Sri Lanka, out of its
21-million population, suffer from blindness or from conditions that could lead
to blindness. Eye health within Sri Lanka remains a challenge, as the National
blindness survey showed that approximately 350,000 are classified as blind and
another 340,000 are estimated to have severe vision impairment. Numerous face
limited access to eye care means, hence many Sri Lankan’s suffer from avoidable
blindness that could be prevented or minimized by early detection. Health
promotion on eye care should be integrated into all levels of care especially
at the community and primary care level screening for undetected eye diseases
especially among school children.
Therefore,
this awareness session held with the intentions of aiding the targeted audience
to have a proper understanding about the types of impairments, how to identify
those at the initial stage and spreading knowledge about taking measures to
protect the eyes.
The
awareness session held at Demataluwa
Mahavidyalaya, Kurunagala with the participation of 120 students and
ophthalmologist Dr. Kamal Senawirathna as the keynote speaker. The session
commenced at 10am and continued for an hour an half.
Dr.Kamal
Senawirathna commenced
the session first by introducing the main parts of the eye and their
importance. Then he moved on to various eye diseases and their symptoms which
will assist in identifying such a vision impairment at its preliminary stage,
possible consequences of neglecting them as well as main types of accidents
that can happen to our eyes and how to avoid them as students. The session also
emphasized the fact how crucial it is to maintain eye health and ways in which
eyes can be kept healthy. Dr.Kamal Senawirathna concluded the session with a very
interesting question and answer round which reflected the enthusiasm of the
students in learning about eye health.
The session concluded with many positive feedbacks from the audience. We extend our sincere gratitude to Dr.Kamal Senawirathna as well as national Hospital, Kurungala and Demataluwa Mahavidyalaya, Kurunagala for their cooperation and support throughout the planning and execution of the awareness Program. Additionally, our appreciation goes to the students who participated in the event making it a huge success. Also a huge thank you goes to our committee members as well as the Leo Club of University of Colombo for their continues dedication throughout the project helping make it a great success.
By,
Leo Pramudi Samarathunga.
Comments
Post a Comment