Eye Care &
Blindness Prevention
Eye surgery
Almost 300 million people in the world are visually impaired -- but 80% of them can avoid blindness. In the Philippines, almost half of the population are visually impaired -- but not half of the population should also be blind.
Resources for the Blind, Inc. (RBI) makes an effort to reach the less-fortunate visually impaired brothers and sisters in different locations whose eye conditions can still be rehabilitated.
Through the help of donors and volunteer doctors and nurses, free eye surgeries are being given by RBI to almost 2,000 patients every year -- and of course we want to grow and help more.
RBI believes that unavailability of medical facilities in the remote areas and unaffordable costs should not be a hindrance in sharing to our visually impaired brothers and sisters the beauty and color of the world.
Sources:
“Global Data on Visual Impairments”
(World Health Organization, 2010)
International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) www.iapb.org
Primary Eye Care Training
In the advocacy to widely prevent blindness, Resources for the Blind, Inc. (RBI) constantly provides training programs for Barangays and Health Centers across the country to equip them of proper knowledge in conducting eye screenings, referrals to the local eye doctors, and basic eye care.
Through this effort, RBI believes that blindness in the Philippines will soon be alleviated if everyone has proper knowledge and awareness.
Community/School Based Eye Screening
Early detection and treatment are always the best preventive measures. In blindness, earlier detection would mean a higher probability to normalize vision.
To help in detection, our RBI team together with an optometrist gives an effort to visit rural areas and public elementary schools to conduct eye screening to check the visual acuity of children.
Free eyeglasses are given for children detected with an error of refraction of worse than 20/40. Meanwhile, those with eye diseases are given a thorough eye exam by an ophthalmologist and provided with the treatment needed to prevent blindness.
This effort allows RBI to envision a society wherein all our visually impaired brothers and sisters would not need to be blind anymore.