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Africa · Health · Zambia Source-checked
The programme will provide 100,000 pairs of free glasses to groups including learners, elderly people and military personnel. It was piloted in three Lusaka schools and at a military base.
President Hakainde Hichilema has launched a programme called HH Vision 100,000, which aims to give free spectacles to 100,000 vulnerable Zambians. News Diggers reports that he announced the launch on his Facebook page on Saturday. The Zambia Daily Mail, citing ZNBC, says he made the announcement in a virtual address to the annual conference of the Zambia Ophthalmological Society.
According to the Daily Mail, the groups that will benefit include learners, elderly people, military personnel and people living with albinism. The paper says the aim is to improve access to eye care and to open opportunities for people whose poor vision affects their education, work and income.
The President said more than six million Zambians need spectacles. He said one in five children struggles to see the blackboard and nearly one in three adults lives with poor vision. These are the President’s figures, and we did not find an independent source for them in the reports we read. In the Daily Mail’s account he said the programme is not charity but an intervention rooted in social justice, and that vision problems have limited education, livelihoods and development for too long.
The Daily Mail reports that the programme has already been tested in selected schools, including New Jack Secondary School in Chawama, Kabanana Secondary School in Mandevu and Chitanda Secondary School in Matero, and at the Mikango military base. Mr Hichilema said the pilot showed why good vision matters for learning and work: ‘When learners see better, they learn better. When soldiers see better, they serve better.’
News Diggers reports that he urged anyone with eyesight problems who cannot afford to pay to contact their nearest health facility for more details.
Poor eyesight can hold back children in class and adults at work, and glasses are out of reach for many families. If the programme reaches the people it targets, it could make a real difference for learning and earning.
The reports we read do not say how people will be selected, when distribution will reach each province, or what the programme will cost. Part of the News Diggers article is for members only and could not be read. Both reports rely on the President’s own statements.
Each link goes to the specific article or document we used. Two articles carrying the same wire report count as one source.
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