Kenya must confront eye problems in schools

Benson Ngure, country director of Good Vision Kenya, says uncorrected refractive errors affect 86,000 learners and hinder their education. Findings from the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness estimate that the resulting suboptimal learning costs Kenya the equivalent of 24,959 school years annually, while early intervention can raise lifetime earnings by 125 percent. Ngure says early care could increase an unskilled worker’s annual earnings from Sh192,000 to more than Sh432,000 in Nairobi or Mombasa, with substantial gains also possible in smaller towns and rural areas. He urges Kenya to integrate eye health into education to improve learning outcomes and the return on public education spending.