Train eye care nurses to detect retinopathy
The Head of the Eye Care Unit of the Ghana Health Service, Dr James Addy, has suggested additional training for ophthalmic nurses (eye care nurses) in screening to detect diabetes and related diseases.
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He said diabetic retinopathy diseases were part of a colony of diseases (Posterior Segment Diseases) which was the third major cause of blindness in the country after cataract and glaucoma.
Diabetic retinopathy occurs when high blood sugar levels cause damage to blood vessels in the retina, common in people with diabetes.
The blood vessels can swell, leak or close, stopping blood from passing through. All of these changes can steal a person’s vision.
“You will agree with me that there is no collaboration between diabetic clinics and eye clinics. It’s time for us to actively go to the diabetic clinics, screen diabetic patients for retinopathy diseases and if possible refer them to hospitals,” he suggested.
Capacity building
Dr Addy made the remarks at the launch of capacity-building programme for ophthalmic nurses at the Ophthalmic Nursing School in Accra. The International Agency for preventive Blindness (IAPB) and Seeing is Believing (SIB) initiated the programme.
He, however, expressed delight in the initiative due to the opportunity it provided for ophthalmic nurses in career development.
“I am happy for the ophthalmic nurses because after working with them for so many years, they have always been agitating to go back to the university to do degree courses. And some have gone doing anything from Archaeology to Zoology just to get a degree. So I am happy now we have a career development plan for them,” he said.
Capacity programme
The pilot programme, which will concurrently take place in Botswana and Tanzania, seeks to build the capacity of ophthalmic schools by upgrading the faculties to enable them to offer degree programmes.
The programme will run for three years based on a new curriculum for ophthalmic nursing.
It will also partner with African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF) in Kenya to train faculties of participating countries to deliver new curriculum.
The programme is also expected to sustain the links between ophthalmic nursing in Africa and the United Kingdom (UK).
Seeing is Believing
At the launch, the Head of Corporate Affairs, Brand and Marketing of Standard Chartered, Ms Asiedua Addae, expressed concern that approximately one per cent of Ghana’s population had severe visual impairment.
It was for that reason that SIB, a global initiative to tackle avoidable blindness and visual impairment, had helped raise funds for eye health projects, including capacity building programmes for ophthalmic nursing.
Background
The Ophthalmic Nursing School, which started with 12 students in 1989 as part of a plan to prevent blindness in Ghana, currently admits about 70 students.
The school offers Advanced Diploma Courses in Ophthalmic Nursing, but has just admitted its first batch of students for Bachelor of Science, in affiliation with the University of Cape Coast.