Lions Club hosts free eye-screening

OVER 200 students of St Augustine Secondary school received free eye-tests courtesy the Lions Club International on Friday, through an increased drive to raise awareness of healthy eyesight. The testing followed an interactive lecture with Ophthalmologist Dr Wendy Bartholomew at the school’s auditorium, where students were exposed to the importance of healthy dieting and the ramifications of poor eye care.

Speaking with Newsday after the lecture, District Governor of the Lion’s Club Sean Noel said he was pleased with the response of staff and students to the event and said it was further evidence of the club’s continued support to communities by building connections and raising awareness to serious matters of health and well-being. He added, members of the Lion’s Club were also expected to be trained by optometrists in the use of eye-screening machines, so they will be able to go out into the field and carry out their own tests on members of the public.

“We do our best to address a number of different challenges including, vision, hunger, the environment, diabetes and paediatric cancer. Today’s event tackles both issues since we are raising awareness about vision loss and how it ties in with diabetes. Hopefully by the end of today some of the students will be able to adopt a more healthy lifestyle and be a little more informed on what it takes to preserve their vision.”

Also present at the forum, was acting welfare officer for the Blind Welfare Association Nicole Horsford who said she was pleased with the organisation of the event and believed it could go a long way in changing the perception of blindness in society.

“We’ve made the call for people to get their screening from an early age and we believe today’s event will definitely drive home the message of healthy eyesight. Conditions like diabetes and glaucoma which cannot be outright cured. In these cases, prevention truly is better than cure,” Horsford said.