A clear vision for Ethiopia

For 15-year-old Mekelit Daniel, going to school had become increasingly daunting. The trouble began about two years ago when she started struggling to see the blackboard clearly in the classroom. “I couldn’t read well,” she recalled. “I didn’t do well in school that year.” Her worsening vision also made it difficult to help out at home and eroded her confidence in public spaces, where she could no longer recognize faces from a distance.

Daniel is one of an estimated 8.83 million people in Ethiopia affected by vision problems. Among school-age children, cases of refractive error — a condition in which the eye fails to focus light correctly on the retina, leading to blurred vision — are increasing, likely due to more time spent on near-vision activities such as reading and screen use. “There are many children who don’t even know they have problems. Because of that, there are children who drop out of school,” said Mulunesh Girma, an optometrist at Nigist Eleni Mohammed Memorial Comprehensive Specialized Hospital in Hossana, in southern Ethiopia’s Central Region.

Visual impairments are also common among adults, especially those aged 40 and above. If left uncorrected, refractive error can worsen and even lead to blindness. Yet, the condition is easily treatable with something as simple as a pair of glasses.

“Poor vision is not only a health problem,” said Dr. Dereje Duguma, Ethiopia’s state minister of health. “It is a social and economic problem, because people with poor vision are dependent on other family members.” The problem is particularly prevalent in rural areas, where limited access to eye care services, lack of infrastructure, and a shortage of trained eye health care workers can make it difficult to receive treatment.

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