The Malawi Council of Churches (MCC), with support from VisionSpring, has launched the Reading Glasses for Improved Livelihoods (RGIL) Programme, aiming to provide underprivileged communities across the country with vision correction services and reading glasses for a fee of K5000.
The programme seeks to screen the vision of 28,000 Malawians and distribute 14,400 pairs of reading glasses to rural community members by 2026.
MCC General Secretary Reverend Alemekezeke Chikondi Phiri stated that they will collaborate with various stakeholders and volunteers in different church establishments to ensure the smooth implementation of the programme and to improve the eye health of people in hard-to-reach areas.
The programme will also enhance the capacity of community health workers to identify and treat vision issues, reduce the cost of eyeglasses in rural areas, and refer those requiring more specialised care to partner eye hospitals.
Optometrist Vitumbiko Munthali, a representative of the Ministry of Health, highlighted the Malawi government’s priorities in eye care and the role of community health workers. He noted that the burden of eye conditions and vision impairment is not distributed equally, with rural areas bearing a greater share.
However, Munthali reassured that the government is committed to ensuring equal access to quality eye health services by training and deploying qualified eye care specialists to health facilities.
According to a 2013 study, 89.8 percent of people aged 40 and above in Malawi suffer from presbyopia, age-related near-vision impairment, which can easily be corrected with reading glasses.
