Children’s eye unit opens

Officially launching the country’s first Paediatric Eye Unit at Parirenyatwa Hospital in Harare yesterday, Health and Child Welfare permanent secretary Dr Gerald Gwinji said the separation was necessitated by the fact that eye surgery in children was different from adult surgery.
“It is from this knowledge that the need for specialisation in paediatric ophthalmology was born,” he said.
“Efforts to start up a paediatric clinic started as early as 2003.”
Dr Gwinji said the concept was contained in the vision 2020 which was conceived by the World Health Organisation and the International Association of Prevention of Blindness. He said the clinic, which will start operating on Monday, will be staffed by two doctors and ophthalmology nurses.
The doctors, with vast experience in peadiatric eye problems, will in turn train other doctors to deal with eye diseases in children.