Elderly urged to wear reading glasses
People aged 40 years and above should use reading glasses to avoid going blind, an eye expert has said. The programme coordinator of the National Intervention in Uncorrected Refractive Errors (NUIRE), Dr. Peter Muwanguzi, said when people turn 40 they st
By Alex Bukumunhe
People aged 40 years and above should use reading glasses to avoid going blind, an eye expert has said. The programme coordinator of the National Intervention in Uncorrected Refractive Errors (NUIRE), Dr. Peter Muwanguzi, said when people turn 40 they start having sight problems.
He added that most people fear wearing glasses thinking that they would make them blind. “Being short or long sighted is not a disease. It is a condition that happens to almost everybody and it can be corrected by wearing glasses,†he said.
He added that the Government was implementing a sight-for-all programme through NUIRE. Muwanguzi was on Monday addressing stakeholders in Mukono district on how the NUIRE programme will be implemented.
He said to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, the Government will enable people access corrective lenses at sh30,000 instead of the market price of sh150,000.
Muwanguzi said the Government had trained eye specialists and equipped them to check eye defects. “The Government also plans to set up optical service centres that will manufacture lenses in all districts,†he added.
Muwanguzi noted that the Government had decided to restrict the distribution of free glasses by non-government organisations, saying some of them were giving out substandard glasses to promote their interests.
“All organisations intending to give out glasses will be expected to have a trained eye specialist. They should first explain what type of lenses they are going to give out before they are allowed to distribute them,†he said.
People aged 40 years and above should use reading glasses to avoid going blind, an eye expert has said. The programme coordinator of the National Intervention in Uncorrected Refractive Errors (NUIRE), Dr. Peter Muwanguzi, said when people turn 40 they start having sight problems.
He added that most people fear wearing glasses thinking that they would make them blind. “Being short or long sighted is not a disease. It is a condition that happens to almost everybody and it can be corrected by wearing glasses,†he said.
He added that the Government was implementing a sight-for-all programme through NUIRE. Muwanguzi was on Monday addressing stakeholders in Mukono district on how the NUIRE programme will be implemented.
He said to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, the Government will enable people access corrective lenses at sh30,000 instead of the market price of sh150,000.
Muwanguzi said the Government had trained eye specialists and equipped them to check eye defects. “The Government also plans to set up optical service centres that will manufacture lenses in all districts,†he added.
Muwanguzi noted that the Government had decided to restrict the distribution of free glasses by non-government organisations, saying some of them were giving out substandard glasses to promote their interests.
“All organisations intending to give out glasses will be expected to have a trained eye specialist. They should first explain what type of lenses they are going to give out before they are allowed to distribute them,†he said.