The Ministry of Education, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, has recently approved a new School Health and Nutrition Strategy plan, which, for the first time, includes school eye health.
This has resulted from its advocacy and intervention from a partnership formed between the
International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB), the
World Bank and the
Partnership for Child Development (PCD).
Initially, IAPB established links with PCD and requested the opportunity to include a session on school eye health in the workshops being held at national level with the Ethiopian Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health as a first step in preparing a national school health programme.
Shortly following this, the IAPB, led by Mr. Hasan Minto, Brien Holden Vision Institute, presented in a workshop in Kenya and in Ethiopia, where he was supported by Dr Amir Bedri Kello, Co-Chair of IAPB Eastern Africa.
Thanks to this intervention the school health and nutrition plan for Ethiopia now includes school eye health, which will mean all school age children will have better eye health awareness and access to primary eye care services.
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