“Eye care services in Cambodia are under-resourced, particularly in rural areas. The solution is offering training programmes and training personnel,” said ICEE Education Development Officer, Neilsen De Souza.

A three month refraction course conducted in Cambodia by ICEE, trained five nurses from five different provinces, providing them with the necessary skills to return to their communities and successfully perform refraction.

In developing countries, where eye care providers are most needed, there are often no or insufficient education programmes for potential personnel.

“The aim is to empower our students with knowledge. They return to their communities self sufficient, with skills to confidently provide eye care. The knowledge they gain gives them a sense of strength that they can make a difference in tackling this massive problem,” he added.

These nurses were taught by three ICEE refraction-trained Cambodians. “As we train more people, the number of people who have the ability to teach others increases greatly. It is all part of a value chain designed to eliminate avoidable blindness,” said Neilsen.

The training of refraction nurses is an initial stage of a much bigger plan. In collaboration with other non-government organisations and the Cambodian Government, ICEE is working on a five year project to establish a National Refraction Training Centre.

In Cambodia, ICEE works in partnership with the National Program for Eye Health Cambodia and the Fred Hollows Foundation, Australia