What started in 2021 as a landmark three-year partnership between Particular Olympics and Optometry Giving Sight (OGS) has remodeled imaginative and prescient take care of hundreds of individuals with mental disabilities, a inhabitants usually going through social isolation and important well being disparities. Launched amidst a worldwide well being disaster, the collaboration aimed to reinforce imaginative and prescient companies in Kenya and the USA, coaching a brand new era of eye care professionals to supply inclusive and compassionate care. The partnership has not solely met however vastly exceeded its objectives, creating a long-lasting legacy of improved well being, dignity, and pleasure.
The initiative’s influence in Kenya has been profound, reaching far into rural communities the place imaginative and prescient care is commonly unavailable. By means of a collection of 9 screening occasions, Particular Olympics Lions Golf equipment Worldwide Basis Opening Eyes®, a self-discipline of Particular Olympics Wholesome Athletes®, supplied complete imaginative and prescient assessments to 2,149 kids and adults with IDD, greater than quadrupling the unique purpose of 500 athletes. For a lot of, this was the primary eye examination that they had ever acquired. Consequently, 364 people acquired a brand new pair of prescription eyeglasses to enhance their imaginative and prescient. This system additionally actively engaged and educated native healthcare capability, offering 122 Kenyan eye care practitioners and 206 optometry college students with invaluable hands-on expertise in treating sufferers with IDD.
Throughout the Atlantic, the partnership made a major influence at main U.S. occasions. On the 2022 Particular Olympics USA Video games in Orlando and the Particular Olympics Unified Cup in Detroit, a complete of 1,763 athletes acquired imaginative and prescient screenings. Out of those screenings, an unbelievable 1,008 athletes had been supplied with new prescription glasses to see the world extra clearly. Past the screening occasions, the collaboration centered on upskilling eye care professionals throughout the nation. A collection of eight on-line webinars on eye care for people with IDD, authorised for persevering with training credit, was attended by 1,474 eye care practitioners. These useful assets stay accessible on-line, persevering with to coach professionals globally on offering inclusive care.
The spirit of this transformative partnership now continues with a brand new 3-year proposal and was just lately embodied in a outstanding occasion in Tamale, Ghana. On 22 July 2025, the Yumba Particular College hosted the nation’s first-ever Opening Eyes screening, an event that left a memorable footprint on your entire group. The occasion demonstrated the profound energy of Particular Olympics to alter the lives of individuals with IDD, together with their households and academics, by means of the gateway of imaginative and prescient care.
The regional training coordinator of the federal government of Ghana, Mildred Mantamia, who was current, famous the immense worth of the initiative.
Her phrases seize the essence of the day’s achievement,“These are susceptible kids and more often than not mother and father usually are not conscious of their wants and a spotlight they want and [Special Olympics] got here right here to supply these screenings.
“The youngsters had been so excited and [Special Olympics] has gone manner forward and made attainable that they see a physician who will observe up”.
Led by Particular Olympics Ghana’s Opening Eyes Medical Director, Dr. Kwadwo Owusu Akuffo, OD, PhD, FAAO, Senior Lecturer on the optometry division at Kwame Nkrumah College of Science and Expertise (KNUST), a devoted staff of 24 optometry college students and eye care professionals screened 51 athletes with profound mental disabilities. For 9 of those athletes, the world turned clearer as they acquired new prescription glasses, whereas seven others had been referred for follow-up care on the Tamale Instructing Hospital as glaucoma suspects.
“Taking part within the first-ever Particular Olympics Opening Eyes eye screening occasion in Tamale, Ghana was each a humbling and galvanizing expertise. I used to be excited to see the enjoyment of the scholars with mental disabilities, a lot of whom had been receiving a watch examination for the very first time,” commented Dr. Akuffo. “By means of the screening, we uncovered a number of unaddressed imaginative and prescient issues (e.g. refractive errors, strabismus, glaucoma) which can have gone unnoticed because of restricted entry to care.”
The occasion’s success was a collaborative effort, with robust help from Particular Olympics Ghana, KNUST in Kumasi and the Particular Olympics Africa regional staff.
This groundbreaking occasion was additionally made attainable by a number of companions together with Safilo, OneSight EssilorLuxottica Basis, Lions Golf equipment Worldwide Basis and first funding associate Optometry Giving Sight.
Particular Olympics’ success in Ghana is greater than only a set of statistics. It’s a story of hope, group, and the unbelievable dedication of volunteers and professionals. It serves as a strong launchpad for future occasions, with a palpable momentum to construct upon. The professionalism, compassion, and tireless efforts of Dr. Akuffo and his staff haven’t solely opened eyes however have additionally opened doorways to a extra inclusive future for people with mental disabilities in Ghana.
He concluded “This occasion emphasised the necessity for inclusive healthcare companies for people with mental disabilities in addition to the pressing must bridge the hole in imaginative and prescient take care of underserved populations. My fellow scholar volunteers and I discovered this to be a profound studying alternative. We walked away knowledgeable and motivated to advocate for susceptible populations in our future scientific practices. Many due to your entire Particular Olympics staff and for the companions for main this effort and granting us the chance to be a part of this historic and life-changing initiative.”
The partnership goals do not cease at Yumba faculty; Because of the continued dedication of OGS they lengthen into constructing a long-lasting basis for imaginative and prescient care in Ghana and past. Future plans purpose to create sustainable native capability by coaching at the least 20 eye care professionals and 40 optometry college students, and by certifying two new native Medical Administrators to steer future efforts.
On the opposite aspect of the globe the objectives for upcoming key occasions are formidable, with plans to supply screenings to at the least 1,000 athletes on the 2026 Particular Olympics USA Video games in Minnesota, whereas additionally providing hands-on coaching for 50 professionals and 100 college students and to additional increase this system’s attain globally, the partnership will translate the collection of eight COPE-approved lectures and different key coaching supplies into Spanish making these very important academic assets accessible to a wider worldwide viewers of volunteers and well being professionals.
