A team of six UK optometrists will support refraction clinics for 5,000 secondary school children across Sierra Leone in October and November, in partnership with Vision Aid and Innovations for Poverty Action project.
The overseas aid project is part of a study to measure the difference vision correction can make to educational outcomes, which aimed to provide evidence to the government for the need for a national school vision screening programme.
Optometrists Sarah Dineen, Kristina Chapman, Ruth Davies, Claire Allen, Insiyah Bharmal and Hiromi Yee will travel to a new school each day.
Judith Trigg, volunteer programme lead at Vision Action, said: ‘There are presently not enough qualified eye health workers in Sierra Leone to carry out the vast number of refractions at the schools required by this project, whilst keeping the vision centres open to meet the needs of the community seeking eye care, therefore using professional volunteers is a great solution to increase capacity for this research project.’
Sarah Dineen, optometrist and owner of Sarah Dineen Opticians, a Hakim Group independent practice, said: ‘As someone who’s main clinical interest is paediatric optometry, I’m acutely aware of the difference correcting refractive error can make to a child. It’s a privilege to be part of such an important project and to be able to help bring sustainable eyecare to the children of Sierra Leone, something we take for granted in the UK.’
Dineen has pledged to raise £3000 to support Vision Action's funding efforts, donate via her Just Giving page at https://bit.ly/47RWXB4.