4% of students in Abha have eyesight problems

The Charitable Health Society for Patient Care (Enayah) has warned that 4 percent of first and second grade students in Abha schools suffer from eyesight problems.
This was revealed during an eye check-up campaign in cooperation with the General Directorate of Education in Asir.
The general supervisor of Enayah, Dr. Mohammed bin Ateya Al-Hamrani, said that direct test data from five classrooms for boys showed the alarming percentage. He stressed the need to activate and develop early detection programs, which the association considers one of its main goals.
Al-Hamrani said that around 19 million children in the world are visually impaired according to official data by the World Health Organization. Twelve million children suffer visual impairment due to refractive errors — a condition that can be easily diagnosed and corrected.
He emphasized the social role that Enayah is keen on activating in the Asir region by involving doctors who donate their time to detect and treat visual defects among children and contribute to reducing vision problems through proactive treatment and spreading awareness.
Member of the medical volunteer team in Enaya and the campaign’s coordinator, Dr. Abdullah Mater, said that the campaign aims to increase the early detection and treatment of visual impairment, reducing lazy-eye problems, and developing mechanisms of early detection of eyesight problems among children, as well as spreading awareness about the dangers of neglecting early tests and screening.
Mater stressed that vision defects among children are one of the biggest causes of blindness globally. Local and international studies confirmed that 80 percent of the community suffers from visual defects.
He said that 4 percent is worrisome compared to global numbers, especially when the problem could have been treated if detected early.
“This is why it’s very important to have an initial eye test in the first month of the child’s life, and a compulsory eye test before school admission,” Mater said, highlighting the need to have employees with optical training working in health units.
Dr. Yahya Al-Falqi, chairman of the ophthalmology department in Enayah, said that this campaign is an important step in terms of voluntary work among doctors and encouraging early detection.