3 committees endorse plenary approval of bill establishing “National Vision Screening Program for Kindergarten Pupils”

Three House committees have endorsed for plenary approval a bill seeking to establish a “National Vision Screening Program for Kindergarten Pupils” to prevent childhood cases of treatable blindness.

House Bill 6441, which substituted HB 5190 authored by Rep. Kimi S. Cojuangco (5 th

District, Pangasinan), was approved by the Committees on Basic Education and Culture chaired by Rep. Kimi S. Cojuangco (5th District, Pangasinan), on Appropriations chaired by Rep. Isidro T. Ungab (3rd District, Davao City), and on Ways and Means chaired by Rep. Romero S. Quimbo (2nd District, Markina City).

Cojuangco said it is impossible for ophthalmologists to check every child in the country, so to address such problem; the country should setup a National Vision Screening at the School Entry Program.

“Vision screening is a fast and cost-effective means of checking children’s vision. With the program, we can identify those to be referred to eye care professionals. Governments in many countries have implemented vision-screening programs. It is time that we have our own,” said Cojuangco.

The lawmaker said vision screening should be mandatory for kindergarten pupils so children with lazy eye can be identified while the government has the opportunity to treat them.

“By doing so, we can make the vision screening program also cost effective. Collaboration among stakeholders is crucial, with the Department of Education taking the lead and schoolteachers as frontliners. They will be the ones who will be trained to screen pupils. Our children deserve good eyesight and a bright future,” said Cojuangco.

Moreover, Cojuangco said the cooperation of the Department of Health and the Philippine Eye Research Institute of the National Institutes of Health, University of the Philippines-Manila is crucial in developing an effective program and in continuously processing information and conducting research.

Cojuangco explained that one in 20 preschoolers, and one out of every four school children has an eye problem. This often goes unnoticed especially for preschoolers since they are used to seeing blurred images and would not complain about it.

“Without intervention, children in the early ages would suffer visual impairment. This puts a toll on the quality of learning and the productivity of our children,” said Cojuangco.

She said amblyopia or lazy eye is one of the leading causes of visual impairment and blindness among children worldwide, with a prevalence rate of two to five percent.

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“Lazy eye is often caused by a high degree of disparity in refractive power between the eyes. The condition is treatable, with a high success rate if done before the age of seven. This declines significantly beyond that age. When the opportunity passes, amblyopic children most likely end up with permanent visual impairment. At worse, they can get blind,” said Cojuangco.

House Bill 6441 provides that pursuant to Article II, Section 15 of the 1987 Constitution, it is the declared State policy to protect and promote the right to health of the people and instill health consciousness among them. In line with this policy, the State shall endeavor to promote every Filipino’s full potential through good vision by creating ways and means to prevent childhood cases of avoidable blindness. Towards this end, the State shall institute a program that will help screen the school children for visual problems.

The bill establishes a “National Vision Screening Program” (NVSP), to be initiated by the Department of Education (DepEd), to screen the eye vision of kindergarten pupils.

The NVSP shall identify early childhood visual problems; provide immediate attention to visually impaired kindergarten pupils and create referral system so that they may be checked and treated by eye specialists; develop a vision screening results database for all kindergarten pupils; and conduct a continuing research on the state of visual impairment among kindergarten pupils.

The DepEd shall be the lead implementing agency for the NVSP, in coordination with the Department of Health of Health (DOH), and the Philippine Eye Research Institute (PERI), National Institute of Health, University of the Philippines-Manila.

In coordination with the DOH and the PERI, the DepEd shall administer the vision-screening program to all public kindergarten pupils, subject to the written consent from the kindergarten pupils’ parents or legal guardians.

The DepEd shall create a screening database, wherein results of the screening per child can be stored. Visual conditions diagnosed by the eye specialists shall also be included in the information to be made available by the DepEd database.

The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) shall develop a benefit package for the consultation and treatment of eye diseases of children. (30) rbb