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National Eye Health Program

Eye health education is an integral

Community health workers and
volunteers taking Primary Eye
Care training
part of any comprehensive eye care system. The main goal and objective of the eye health education program is to promote overall eye health in the country by creating public awareness for eye health and motivating and guiding people to undertake necessary preventive measures, and to seek eye care early for eye health problems and thereby, promoting the utilization of existing eye care facilities. Preventive and promotive eye care is of optimum importance in a country like Nepal with a low per capita income, where majority of the blinds reside in remote and rural areas with less accessibility to eye care services.

NNJS has been maintaining a separate National Eye Health Education Unit (NEHEU) at its central office in Kathmandu since 1989 in order to deliver preventive and promotive eye care in the country. The NEHEU has also set up its units at 9 peripheral eye hospitals through which different eye health educational activities are being carried out. The main regular activities under the NEHEP are as follows;

a) Broadcast of Radio Eye Care Program:
Radio program is recognized as the most effective tool to impart eye health education to illiterate as well as the rural, remote, mountainous population where radio is still the only means of communication and entertainment. The NEHEU has been maintaining the broadcast of Radio eye care program fortnightly since 1989, for 15 minutes duration on every second and fourth Saturdays of Nepali months from 8:15 to 8:30 PM, and the time is convenient to the target population. A study carried out by Radio Nepal a decade ago on the popularity of its different programs showed the Radio eye care program to be moderately popular in the country. In the study carried out by the NEHEU in 2000 by interviewing the adult eye patients coming to different eye hospitals and centres,

Some of the IEC materials
published by NEHEU
and eye camps, majority of the respondents told the Radio eye care program to be the most useful source of information that led them to come to seek eye care. Therefore, this program deserves continuity during the coming years.

b) Publication and Distribution of IEC Materials:
The NEHEU has been developing, publishing, and distributing information, education, and communication (IEC) materials which include pictorial print materials like posters (11kind), brochures (5kind), flash cards (2kind), flip chart, handbills, comic books, primary eye care booklet, community level training curricula, and audio-visuals (four story-based video films) etc. on eye care.

c) Traditional Healers (THs) Training:
Most of the people in the rural areas still consult their nearest THs first at the time of any health problems. Most of the eye patients coming to eye hospitals, centres and camps give the history of first being treated by THs, and many of them come very late and the treatment becomes difficult

Traditional Healers receiving
primary eye care training
or even impossible Most of the traditional eye medicines used by the THs are useless or even harmful to the eye. Many people do not come for medical help unless permitted by the THs even if eye health care services are available nearby. THs and the health care providers had no good relationship or cooperation, rather they had a tendency to disregard each other. Therefore, to bridge this gap between the THs together with their followers and the eye care providers, the NEHEU started collaborating with the selected renowned THs giving them training in basic primary eye care and mobilizing them as referral agents for eye patients since 1994. The THs are given an initial training of 3 days followed by one- day refresher course every year. An evaluative study was conducted on effectiveness of the THs training in 1998, and the result was very much encouraging. The trained THs are referring cases of operable cataract, children with eye problems, and ocular emergencies to the nearby eye centres and have stopped using harmful traditional eye medicines. Up till now, the program has been expanded to 25 districts, and deserves continuity and further expansion during the coming years.

d) School Eye Health Program:

Some of the IEC materials
published by NEHEU
Majority of childhood blindness in Nepal is avoidable and the common causes include vitamin A deficiency, congenital cataract, eye injuries, refractive error, amblyopia, squint, eye infection, and use of harmful traditional practices. The NEHEU has been regularly conducting this activity since 1998 in order to promote eye health among the school children through visual acuity test, eye examination, treatment for minor eye problems at the school, and referral for any needy children to eye hospital or eye care centre.

e) Other Activities:
The NEHEU, as part of the eye health promotion and prevention of blindness program, has been conducting community based activities like Drug Retailers orientation training, Female community Health Volunteers (FCHVs) training in primary eye care, and other community based cadres training programs, etc. periodically according to the contextual need and demand. Support to the NEHEP Seva Foundation, USA and Seva Canada society (Seva) provided financial support to the NEHEU, since its establishment, to conduct various activities. Similarly, Eyecare Foundation, The Netherlands have been supportng for broadcast of the Radio Eye Care Program for a decade. The publication of IEC materials was initially supported by Seva and currently is being done through revolving fund.
 


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© 2009 Nepal Netra Jyoti Sangh, Nepal