A few months into the pandemic, Lee Lok Yin, eight, said his eyes began to feel constantly tired, to the point that he would sometimes get dizzy. It was only when his mother took him for an eye test at CUHK Jockey Club Children’s Eye Care Programme that he realised he had become mildly short sighted. “During the pandemic, Lok Yin had all his classes in front of the computer. He had to focus on the screen for four to five hours every day,” Lok Yin’s mother said. “That must have taken a toll on his eyesight. Luckily, we found out about the problem early.”
Lok Yin’s case is far from uncommon. In fact, eyesight protection has become a critical health issue for children. Recently, the programme tracked 700 children across Hong Kong and found that the amount of time they spent on electronic devices during the pandemic increased to an average of 6.9 hours per day from 2.5 hours before. For some children, their myopia – or short-sightedness – had worsened by minus 1.00 dioptres in both eyes in a short period of time.
According to experts in the programme, it is vital that children with myopia and amblyopia are identified and given treatment as early as possible. This is why a free eye test can make a huge difference to a child’s life.
For many years, the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at The Chinese University of Hong Kong has worked to protect the eye health of children. The department began providing free eye tests to students after it found in a 2013 survey that most children had never had their eyesight checked and that they knew little about eye diseases. Since January 2018, the department has substantially increased the scale of the eye test programme, thanks to a donation from The Hong Kong Jockey Club. To date, the programme has given 25,000 children comprehensive eye tests free of charge and subsidised the cost of nearly 3,000 pairs of eyeglasses.
In the past two years, Lok Yin has had his eyesight checked every six months. On the advice of his optometrist and nurses, he would remind himself to limit his daily screen time on the smartphone and the computer. He would also look out the window at regular intervals to relax his eyes. Moreover, he is disciplined in using eye drops that can prevent his myopia from getting worse.
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Pharmacist William notes, “Community pharmacies are a vital component of primary healthcare. Beyond dispensing medication, community pharmacists provide personalised consultations and health advice and empower the public to manage health conditions.”