Uganda Receives 52,000 Reading Glasses to Combat Visual Impairment

The Ministry of Health has received a donation of 52,000 reading glasses from two partner organizations, Evidence for Action and Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI). 

The donation, valued at $52,000, aims to address the growing issue of visual impairment in Uganda, where an estimated 6 million people suffer from some form of visual impairment, with 400,000 being totally blind.

According to Dr. Charles Olaro, Director General of Health Services, the reading glasses will be distributed in the Busoga and Bukedi regions, where visual impairment is most prevalent.

“The socioeconomic impact of visual impairment cannot be overstated. These reading glasses will not only improve the quality of life for individuals but also enable them to be more productive and independent,” Dr Olaro said 

Richard Kibuuka, Country Director for Evidence for Action, explained the motivation behind the donation. “The reason for us to do this is we’ve got evidence that shows that at least one in six people over 40 years are affected by loss of their vision and this affects their well-being, the quality of life and various well-being metrics,” said Kibuuka 

He added that Evidence for Action aims to implement cost-effective interventions to reduce the burden of poverty. “We felt the need to make this contribution to improve the quality of life in people, but also want to test out scalable models to distribute reading glasses and to screen people with presbyopia in communities.”

Joy Batusa, Country Director for Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) in Uganda, notes that CHAI recognized the challenge of people with disabilities in Uganda and has stepped in to support the Ministry of Health in building systems that support people with disabilities. 

“We are starting with Eye Health because it’s the most prevalent, and we are donating about 16,500 glasses today,” said Batusa

CHAI’s donation is part of a broader effort to support Uganda’s national strategy on assistive technologies.

“Uganda now has guidelines and a production list for assistive technologies, which will guide the importation and donation of commodities that make sense for Uganda,” Batusa explained.

The ministry plans to integrate the distribution of reading glasses into its essential health care package, which includes health promotion, disease prevention, curative services, rehabilitation, and palliative care. 

Each pair of reading glasses costs only $1, making this initiative a cost-effective solution to addressing visual impairment in Uganda.