A team of six eye specialists from Gyalyum Kesang Choeden Wangchuck National Eye Centre conducted a week-long eye camp at Laya in Gasa. The camp, coinciding with World Sight Day yesterday, was carried out to address challenges in accessing eye health services in remote areas. It is also to support Bhutan’s commitment to improving the eye health of its citizens. This year’s World Sight Day was observed on the theme ‘Love Your Eyes’. The camp ended today.
The team consisted of a pediatric ophthalmologist, a glaucoma specialist and four allied eye care professionals from the national eye centre, along with a health staff from Gasa Hospital.
Over the course of the weeklong campaign, the team provided eye examinations and screenings to 350 residents including students.
Among them, 14 patients received cataract and pterygium surgeries.
Expressing their gratitude, residents of Laya highlighted the benefits of such initiatives in addressing challenges faced by the highland community in accessing specialised health care.
Dawa Dem, a resident said “If we are to go for an eye checkup at the national referral hospital in Thimphu, forget about seeing the doctor, it is very hard to even get tokens. We are very grateful that specialists from Thimphu came here and did eye screenings for both the elderly and children. Thank you so much for this programme.”
Passang, another resident said “We do not have specialists in our community, and it is very challenging for people to travel to Gasa for check-ups. That is why many people here suffer from various health issues. We would be even more grateful if other types of health services could be provided, just like this camp.”
Dema, who is also a resident said “Doctors came to our highland community, and we are very happy about that. I was told I do not need eye surgery, but the doctor gave me eye drops and told me to apply them four times a day. It is very effective. We cannot go to the hospital in Thimphu, and even if we do, it is difficult because we do not know much about it.”
This is the second such eye camp held in Laya, with the first conducted 14 years ago.
The national eye centre plans to carry out a similar eye camp in Lunana next year.
Laya has over 300 households, with a population of more than 1,500 people.
World Sight Day is observed annually on the second Thursday of October.
This year, it was observed on 10th October.
Namgay Dema
Edited by Phub Gyem
