Sierra Leone
We provided eye screening for over 44,000 children and 988 teachers across 159 primary schools
Sierra Leone has one of the world’s most under-resourced eye care systems. In a population of over 7.98 million people, Sierra Leone has just five qualified optometrists.
Our work in Sierra Leone is focused on developing affordable eye care services in the country’s most underserved regions: the Eastern and Northern Provinces. Thanks to the support of our funding partners, we have established three Vision Centres in the Eastern Province and one Vision Centre in the Northern Province to improve access to glasses in remote areas that lack eye care infrastructure. We have helped to train 14 Optometry Technicians in the Gambia who have now returned to work in these and other Vision Centres across the country.
In 2019, we received support from The United States Agency for International Development through its Child Blindness Program to develop and test an effective approach to eye health in school-aged children. Through this project, over 44,000 children and 988 teachers were screened across 159 primary schools. We are working with the government of Sierra Leone and local partners to scale up these services across the country.
With the support of our partners at The Clothworkers Foundation, we developed and implemented the WHO Primary Eyecare Training in Kenema which, over three years, reached over 320,000 people and improved the skills of 240 Community Health Workers, 16 Community Health Officers, and three Optometry Technicians.
