- In Kenya out of the 7.5 million persons who are in need of eye care services, 250,000 are blind.
- The investment made by Impact is about Sh2.2billion and is projected to make a return of Sh8.8 billion profit over ten years.
Image: CHARLENE MALWA/ FILE
Ministry of Health will equip five hospitals at a cost of Sh3 billion to offer specialised eye, ear and dental services.
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said these are some of the most neglected services in Kenya.
The targeted hospitals are Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital and the county referral facilities in Mombasa, Nyeri, Kisii and Meru.
“It is for this reason that my ministry is mobilising financial resources up to about Sh3 billion to develop and equip centres of excellence for eye, hearing and dental care,” he said.
“These centres would be part of regional training and research centres for these specialised fields."
Kagwe spoke in Nairobi on Thursday, when he launched the Vision Impact Eye Care Services Project, a 10-counties project that will deploy smartphone technology to detect eye problems at the grassroots level.
In Kenya, out of the 7.5 million persons who are in need of eye care services, 250,000 are blind and another 750,000, with difficulties in seeing clearly.
Kagwe said the main causes of vision impairment include age-related cataract and refractive errors, which include short sightedness, long sightedness, common among school-going children.
Another common problem is difficulties in reading, associated also with ageing.
“Out of the 10.4 million children enrolled in primary schools in Kenya, about 100,000 have significant refractive errors short sighted or long sighted, requiring spectacles," he said.
"It is only about 37,000, who are able to access spectacles, to enable them to engage meaningfully in schooling."
Vision Impact Eye Care Services Project is an initiative of the MoH in collaboration with Peek Vision Limited and Christian Blind Mission.
It will be implemented in conjunction with the Education and Social Services ministries.
The counties to benefit from the pilot include Kajiado, Kakamega, Mombasa, Kwale, Vihiga, Meru, Embu, Kiambu, Bomet and Nakuru.
Kagwe said the smartphone technology has been studied and validated in Trans Nzoia county and found to provide a threefold increase in patients’ access to eye care.
“In addition, it has shown to improve the output of the limited eye health workforce, by five times. This is by no means big milestones in eye health and technology and for that matter, a stepping stone to UHC,” Kagwe said.
The investment made by Impact is about Sh2.2 billion and is projected to make a return of Sh8.8 billion profit over 10 years.
(Edited by Tabnacha O)