IRISH EYECARE experts will help save thousands of children from going blind in Mozambique by training local graduates in a groundbreaking new project.
Eye-tests and pairs of glasses will be given to 500,000 people over the next five years as part of the initiative between Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) and Irish Aid.
DIT optometrists will also help set up screening programmes in schools in the southern African country to diagnose blindness-causing conditions in children such as cataracts and glaucoma.
The University of Ulster is also supporting the project along with the International Centre for Eyecare Education, the Higher Education Authority and the University of Lurio in Mozambique.
Up to 10 optometrists will graduate from new courses at the University of Lurio in 2012 and will go to work in the local public health system in the Nampula province.
An additional 20 will complete their studies in July 2013 and a further 20 in 2014.
“The whole of Mozambique has only one ophthalmologist or eye surgeon for every 1.5 million people,” Dr James Loughman of DIT’s optometry department said.
“This means very few people undergo eye examinations and, even if they do, glasses are simply not available.”
Dr Loughman leads a DIT Kevin Street team working on the project that includes optometrists Aoife Phelan and Aoife Lloyd who have practised in Mozambique in the past.
Irish Aid has provided €1.5 million in funding for the five-year project while DIT has also contributed funds.
Overseas Development Minister Peter Power said access to eye care treatment was taken for granted by most developed countries but in Mozambique the situation was very different.
“Over the five years, the Mozambique Eyecare Project will see almost half a million people benefit from comprehensive eye examinations and the provision of glasses,” he said.
“These simple, cost-effective eye services will make a huge difference to the lives and livelihoods of thousands of people.”
The Mozambique Eyecare Project developed from a World Health Organisation initiative, Vision 2020: The Right to Sight, to eliminate curable blindness by 2020.
Dr Loughman is currently seeking volunteers for the Mozambique Eyecare Project and help in raising funds or donating suitable equipment.