ICEE Vision Centre extends to Dehiwela

The International Centre for Eyecare Education (ICEE) opened the Dehiwela Vision Centre recently. This is the second Vision Centre to open in support of the Colombo Urban Comprehensive Eye Care Project in the Colombo district, where the community is in most need of access to eye examinations and affordable spectacles. The Colombo Urban Comprehensive Eye Care Project works towards eliminating avoidable blindness in Sri Lanka and includes partnerships with the Ministry of Healthcare and Nutrition and the Standard Chartered Bank.

In July 2010, as the first step in the Colombo Urban Comprehensive Eye Care Project, an Optical Workshop was opened at the Colombo Eye Hospital to help meet the community’s need for quality and affordable spectacles. Since the opening, the Optical Workshop has dispensed 6160 pairs of spectacles to the poor, elderly and underprivileged members of the community.  In September of the same year an ICEE Vision Centre was opened in Kolonnawa and within its first four months, a total of 1540 eye examinations and 1078 pairs of spectacles have been dispensed to the local people.

According to Anitha Munasinghe, ICEE Country Representative, the Dehiwela Vision Centre is expected to serve the community similar to the Kolonnawa Vision Centre. She added, “Just like the Kolonnawa Vision Centre, Dehiwela will provide comprehensive, affordable and sustainable vision care to all people living in the region regardless of their economic situation.

It will also help to educate the community that many vision problems can be easily corrected with an eye examination and a pair of spectacles.”

“Furthermore,” she added, “In this part of Sri Lanka, people are disadvantaged simply because they don’t have access to a pair of glasses. Preventable blindness and vision impairment restricts many Sri Lankans from supporting themselves and their families.

In general studies done in other countries show that people who are blind and poor living in a developing community, have a shorter lifespan than someone who is just poor, and living in the same community.”

Professor Brien Holden, CEO of ICEE said, “ICEE first visited Sri Lanka in 2005 after the tsunami. The ICEE team came to Sri Lanka believing that those affected had lost everything, including their glasses. Sadly we realized that about 90% of the people we met had never had an eye examination or a pair of glasses.  We knew we had a job ahead of us, to work with local people to ensure the people of this country have access to affordable eye care.”

Professor Holden continued, “Since that time we have been addressing the gap in access to eye care, and by supporting the Ministry of Healthcare and Nutrition, collaborating with local district partners and other International non-government organisations – I believe we are well on the way in Colombo.”

ICEE first opened its country office in Battaramulla in August 2008 and provides support to the Ministry of Healthcare and Nutrition – Vision 2020 Secretariat, to implement the National Eye Care Plan to contribute towards eliminating avoidable blindness and vision impairment due to uncorrected refractive error.

The Optical Workshop at the Colombo Eye Hospital, the Kolonnawa Vision Centre and the Dehiwela Vision Centre would not be possible without the support from the ‘Seeing is Believing Programme’ of the Standard Chartered Bank.