Mobile vision clinic improves sight for Kugaaruk students

What could be called a ‘”visionary” pilot project brought results into focus for students in Kugaaruk this winter.

A mobile pediatric vision clinic provided eye exams for 114 students from kindergarten through Grade 12 at Arviligruaq Ilinniarvik School over three days in December. Forty-seven patients ended up receiving eyeglasses, including 11 who were diagnosed as being legally blind without their new prescription lenses.

“This is the first clinic we’ve done in a school,” John Main, Nunavut’s health minister, said in an interview Wednesday. “We’re really excited by the uptake, the amount of interest, as well as the positive outcomes.”

The pilot project was a collaboration between the Health and Education departments.

The cost, including providing glasses to the children, was funded by Indigenous Services Canada.

Schools in Baker Lake, Rankin Inlet, Coral Harbour, Cambridge Bay and Iqaluit are tentatively slated for similar mobile clinic visits before the summer break, said John Manzo, communications manager for the Department of Education, in an email to Nunatsiaq News.

“The idea is to get this rolled out across the territory so that we’re reaching as many schools as possible,” he said, adding the program will continue in the fall.

“There’s been strong interest from schools right across Nunavut.”

The school-based clinics are in addition to existing ones already being run at the community level.

“As someone who got glasses as a child, it’s absolutely essential for a child’s learning development as well as their overall health,” Manzo said.

“We’re really excited to see more access [to eyecare].”