About 8,000 Prescription Glasses Expected Within Months to expand vision programme

About 8,000 prescription glasses are expected to arrive in Antigua and Barbuda within the next few months as the government expands a national programme aimed at reducing preventable vision impairment.

Prime Minister Gaston Browne announced the expected shipment during the Browne and Browne Show, saying the prescription eyewear would complement the reading glasses already being distributed.

“We have about 8,000 glasses coming — prescription glasses — in a few months, so we’ll continue to expand the programme,” Browne said.

The shipment forms part of a broader eye-care drive that includes cataract surgeries and other interventions intended to improve residents’ vision and independence.

“It’s about increasing national productivity, improving the quality of life of our people and making sure that our people can see, literally and figuratively,” Browne said.

The government previously secured 25,000 near-vision eyeglasses through the global nonprofit RestoringVision under the Prime Ministerial Vision Initiative. Those glasses are intended to help people with presbyopia, the age-related loss of near vision commonly corrected with reading glasses.

The initiative is being implemented through partnerships involving the Ministry of Health, Cure Blindness Project, RestoringVision and VisionSpring. It supports plans to establish a “blindness-free community zone” model by addressing vision impairment through glasses and surgical treatment.

The government has said the programme is intended to make basic vision care more widely available while helping residents remain productive and independent.

Antigua and Barbuda is also scheduled to co-host the first Global Summit for Eye Health with the World Health Organization in November. The summit is expected to focus on expanding access to eye-care services and accelerating international efforts to prevent avoidable vision loss.

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