Abstract
Children of grades 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 underwent screening for low vision during the academic year 2019-2020. Visual acuity measurement was performed by well-trained screeners using a Snellen chart at 6 meters with E symbol in which the 6/6 line was the standard for normal vision. Based upon the results of the visual acuity, data of each individual was entered in either of two screening record sheets. Children with impaired visual acuity were referred to a specialist for further assessment and evaluation.
Highlights
School health programs have widely adopted vision screening initiative in many countries; according to the World Health Organization (WHO), almost 18.9 million children under 15 years of age are visually impaired globally [1]
Visual acuity measurement was completed in 48,179 government school children and 51,482 private school children
Out of 99,661 children,16,882 (16.94%) were unable to read the smallest letters at six meters, this screening program has detected the condition of abnormal vision in children, still there is a necessity to determine the possible causes of low vision
Summary
School health programs have widely adopted vision screening initiative in many countries; according to the World Health Organization (WHO), almost 18.9 million children under 15 years of age are visually impaired globally [1]. Qatar Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) conducts an annual vision screening survey in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE) and Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC), that aims to detect the magnitude of visual impairment in targeted children (grades 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9) who enroll in government and private schools. This annual survey was implemented based on WHO recommendations; it draws the attention to the low vision and lazy eye conditions in school-age children and aims to early detect such conditions to improve their academic performance and learning ability [5]. The team of blindness prevention program (BPP) at MOPH, coordinates the school vision screening process and conducts periodically workshops to train vision screeners in how to measure visual acuity and to deal with common eye diseases or trauma
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