85000 girl students to undergo eye check-up

Kolkata: Taking a major move to help identifying vision related problems at the very primary stage, around 85,000 girls from different schools in Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) area will be undergoing eye-testing.

Bhaskar Bhattacharjee, Member Mayor-in-Council (Health), said: "The eye-testing camp is going to start from May 19. The first programme will be held at Jogesh Chandra Girls' School in the central part of the city and Mayor Dr Rathin Chakraborty will be inaugurating the programme."

He said this is the first time when such an initiative has been taken for up eye-checking of so many school-goers.

It may be mentioned that the year-long programme will be carried by an organisation along with a healthcare centre specialised in treatment of eyes with necessary support from the HMC. Teams will be visiting from one school to another in a bid to the conduct the eye-checkup camps. There is a proper planning following which the teams comprising senior ophthalmologists and their assistants will be visiting the schools. Girl students will be undergoing necessary tests of eyes. The eye-checkup camps will be organised in such a way that the curriculum of the schools don't get affected.

The students will also be provided with necessary treatments if any defect is found. The students, who are found with defected eyesight, will be provided with spectacles.

According to experts, besides helping students to know if they are suffering from any sort of eye defect, the camps will also help to create awareness about the steps needed to care for the eyes and practice preventive measures as well. It may be mentioned that now-a-days students from very early age start using computers and even remain glued to smart phones. During the camps they would also know about the ill effects of watching excessive television or playing games.

It may be mentioned that the civic body is also going to set up eye-checkup centre in one of its Urban Primary Health Centres (UPHC) at Belgachia. At present there is one at the UPHC near Shibpur Police Station where it remains operational on three days a week.