Prevention of visual impairment effort in lowand middle-income countries

Statement of the Problem: Vision impairments that are not detected at an early stage can affect the social and mental development of a child. Early detection can provide a better prognosis and can be done through vision screening at the preschool level. Pre-school teachers are the human resources in pre-school premises and are proven as competent vision screening screeners for pre-school children. However, knowledge and skills of these trained teachers is unknown. This paper aimed to share our experience on empowering communities in low-and middle-income countries to reduce the prevalence of vision impairment among pre-school children. A comprehensive vision screening program was developed, tested and executed in low- and middle-income countries for pre-school teachers. The findings were compared and interesting results were noted. Conclusion & Significance: Empowering pre-school teachers to reduce prevalence of visual impairment among pre-school children in low- and middle-income countries can be achieved with proper training. It is recommended that the training should incorporate theory and hands-on session. Recent Publications 1. Omar, R. Knight, V.F., Duratul Ain, H. (2013). The Outcome of Combining Home Based and Clinic Based Amblyopia Therapy among Preschool Children. Med J Malaysia 68(3):235-238. 2. Uddin M, Omar R, Feizal V, Alam K. (2017) Ocular morbidity among preschool children in urban area of Chittagong in Bangladesh. Guoji Yanke Zazhi(Int Eye Sci);17(1):16-20 . 3. Omar R, Knight VF, Asma Ahida AZ, Nur Zakiah MS and Tan XL. (2018) Effectiveness of Vision Screening Program Conducted By Pre-School Teachers. Malaysian Journal of Public Health Medicine, Special Volume (1): 41-50. 4. Omar R, Knight VF, Tan XL, Ahmad Zahidi AA, & Mohd Saat NZ (2019) Effectiveness of Vision Screening Training Module In Improving The Level Of Knowledge On Vision Screening Among Pre-School Teachers In Klang Valley Malaysia. JUMMEC 2019:22(1). 5. Omar R, Wan Mohd Hafidz WA & Knight VF. (2019). Status of visual impairment among indigenous (Orang Asli) school children in Malaysia BMC Public Health 2019, 19(Suppl 4):543 https://doi.org/10.1186/ s12889-019-6865-35.

Biography :

Rokiah Omar has her expertise in low vision rehabilitation in improving the quality of life and wellbeing of visually impaired people. Her involvement in prevention of blindness and low vision rehabilitation creates new pathways for improving healthcare of visually impaired people. She has built simple models/modules of approaching vision impairment through empowering healthcare providers through multidiscipline approach and communities after years of experience in research, evaluation, teaching and administration both in clinical and education institutions settings. This approach involves all stakeholders and creating new holistic early intervention program which focused on simple, cheap and fast execution in improving quality of life for the visually impaired people.

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