Phnom Penh (FN), Feb. 10 – A new national project backed by global partners, entitled Scaling Up Refractive Error Services is set to provide about 80,000 children and 30,000 women and men living below the poverty line in Cambodia with subsidised eyeglasses.
The project, recently launched in Phnom Penh by international eye health organisation the Fred Hollows Foundation, is funded by USAID in support of ATscale, the Global Partnership for Assistive Technology, and UNOPS.
“Assistive technologies like eyeglasses, wheelchairs, and hearing aids dramatically improve the quality of life and productivity of people with disabilities, yet the majority of people in low and middle income countries who need them do not have access,” said Pascal Bijleveld, CEO of ATscale, during a visit to the project in Cambodia this week.
“We are excited about our investment in this project and would like to work with the Government of Cambodia and other partners to take the lessons we learn and replicate them for other assistive devices,” he said.
“In Cambodia, many people can’t access affordable, good quality eyeglasses and eye services. There is a lack of qualified eye care workers particularly in remote areas. A lot of children at schools are in need of vision screening, early detection and intervention,” a group of nurses told Bijleveld during a visit to the Refraction Training Programme.
”We are proud to participate in this training course so that we can help our communities,” the nurses said.
Mr Bijleveld and his colleague, Ms Barbara Goedde have met key government partners from the ministries of Health, Social Affairs, Ministry of Woman Affairs, Education, Economy and Finance this week along with partners from USAID, DFAT, WHO, UNICEF, CHAI, disabled people’s organisations, and other civil society organisations. They are exploring other possible intervention ATscale might support in the future to increase access to Assistive Technologies.
“The success of this program relies on a seamless collaboration between national and local governments, local service providers, and international organisations. We are grateful for the enthusiasm and support of our partners which will benefit the Cambodian people,” Bijleveld said.
The ATscale team also visited the Phnom Penh Vision Centre, a new undertaking by The Fred Hollows Foundation with funding from the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).
The Foundation’s Cambodia Country Manager Mr Tokyo Bak said that building and equipping vision centres would be crucial to increasing people’s access to eyeglasses.
“Lasting beyond the project, one of our key goals is to provide permanent access to refractive services and eyeglasses. We do this by supporting new and existing vision centres and eye hospitals – which includes providing more equipment and training eye care staff.”
“On behalf of the Cambodian people, we are grateful for the generous support we receive from our local partners and international funders,” he said.
The Fred Hollows Foundation, which this year celebrates its 30th anniversary, has been working in Cambodia since 1998. Its vision is to end avoidable blindness and vision impairment.
=FRESH NEWS
