-UG begins optometry training
A blindness prevention programme was launched on Wednesday, coinciding with the start of an Optometry Training Programme at the University of Guyana (UG) that is expected to augment the objectives of project to develop capacity to eradicate avoidable blindness.
According to the Government Information Agency (GINA), the prevention of blindness is the objective of the five-year VISION 2020 (Eye Health Services) project which will be undertaken in Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica and St Lucia. The EU-funded initiative is a partnership effort of the Foundation of Eye Care in the Caribbean, Eye Care Guyana, the Haitian Society for the help of the Blind, the Jamaica Society for the Blind and the St Lucia Blind Welfare Association.
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, in his capacity as acting president, Minister of Health Dr Leslie Ramsammy, CCB Vice Chairman Stanley Cooke, VISION 2020 Caribbean Programme Manager Philip Hand, University Vice Chancellor Professor Lawrence Carrington and representatives from the EU and various institutes for the blind in the Caribbean attended the launching.
The UG programme, GINA noted, is vital to the success of the “ambitious project” mainly because of the need for boosting the much-needed human resource capacity which is a provision of the VISION 2020 initiative. Although blindness prevention is the primary focus of the programme, it will also host sessions about the adjustment to blindness.
In his address at the launching, CCB-Eye Care Guyana Programme Manager Charles Vandyke said, “We implored upon the university to discuss and to implement an optometry programme, perhaps leading to a school of optometry.” He said the CCB’s inclusive education programme involves working across the country to provide education for affected children. “Our information is that there are roughly 7,000 persons who are blind but we don’t know where they are… we need to increase our pace in finding these people,” Vandyke said. CCB Guyana is a subsidiary of the Caribbean Council for the Blind. It was established to facilitate the prevention of blindness, adjustment to blindness and inclusive education for blind and visually-impaired children and the provision of opportunities for the blind to participate in all sectors of Guyana, GINA said.
Meanwhile, Hinds received the James Alves Award (2010 Special Edition) in recognition of the government’s role in helping CCB-Eye Care Guyana lay the foundation for accessible, affordable and quality eye health care throughout the public health service in Guyana. James Alves, a Guyanese born in 1883 was a pioneer in the programme of services for the blind and visually impaired in the Caribbean.
Hinds commended the work of the CCB- Guyana over the years and the new blindness prevention partnership initiative. He said all should join in solidarity with persons who are visually-impaired and vowed that government will continue to support initiatives that will boost their lives. CCB Guyana has operated for eight years and has collaborated closely with the Ministry of Health and over the past years ties were established with the human services and education ministries.
Following the establishment of the Guyana CCB, several initiatives were put in place including the establishment of vision centres which provided assistance to visually-impaired persons through adjustment to blindness technicians.
According to GINA, VISION 2020 is a global initiative for the prevention of avoidable blindness which was established jointly by the World Health Organisation and the International Organisation for the Prevention of Blindness. It was launched globally in 1999 and later in the Caribbean in July 2001. Its key focus is on disease control, human resource development and infrastructure development.
