Transport Board to conduct vision screening for drivers

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The government will be creating the opportunity for drivers to benefit from free vision screening when they visit the Antigua & Barbuda Transport Board (A&BTB) to renew their licences.
The disclosure was made yesterday by Health Minister Molwyn Joseph who is of the firm view that eye screening should be incorporated in the licence renewal process.
“At my age, over the last four years I have had to change my glasses almost every year and the sight deteriorates. And we must appreciate that many of the drivers who are driving in Antigua & Barbuda, who have not had an eye examination, might not be seeing clearly,” the minister said.
He was speaking at a handing over ceremony to mark the commissioning of EC $200,000 worth of medical equipment donated by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).
Joseph said the Ministry of Health will be making the optional service available to the transport board for drivers.
“We have to pay attention to the examination of our drivers in Antigua & Barbuda … We hope within the next few months our citizens will not have to travel abroad for any treatment of eye diseases.
“Poverty; low income; ability to pay; should not be a barrier to healthcare and quality of life. This equipment almost completes the list that we are putting together so that we can address every eye disease in Antigua & Barbuda,” Joseph said.
The government of Korea has assisted Antigua & Barbuda with the acquisition of a Zeiss visual analyzer – a state of the art tool for measuring the human visual field to provide a comprehensive visual field assessment of the eye; Haag-straight tonometer- with prisms to measure intraocular eye pressure; Icare tonometer and a Pachymeter- a tool used to measure the thickness of the eye’s cornea.
Also included in the list of eye-care equipment is a Phoroptor – a tool to test individual lenses on each eye during an exam and a Keeler Ophthalmoscope Indirect- used for peripheral viewing of the retina.
 
(More in today’s Daily Observer)

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