The Ag. Vice Chancellor, Prof. Solomon Shibairo and the Ag. Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic and Student Affairs, Prof. Peter Odera inspecting the equipments donated by Krogh Optikk
This project, funded by the Norwegian Agency for Exchange Cooperation (NOREC), saw two (2) of MMUST’s staff in the Department of Optometry travel to Norway for a 13-month exchange programme at USN. Another group of staff is expected to travel at a later date.
“With the equipment, the Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences will now be able to diagnose Glaucoma, a condition considered by public eye health experts as the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the world and the third cause of preventable and/or treatable blindness,” said Ms. Nangena.
“The equipment will be able to detect other vision-threatening illnesses such as Diabetic Retinopathy, an eye condition that can cause vision loss and blindness in people with Diabetes” added Mr. Julius Rono, a staff member.
According to Mr. Andrew Wekesa, having these machines in MMUST means that the quality of teaching will be enhanced as Optometry students will experience hands-on training. These students will be able to practice anywhere in the world with the skills they will have acquired from them.
The equipment will be used to treat patients in the MMUST academic patient-center as well as during community outreaches. They will also be crucial in improving overall ranking in the Accreditation process of the Department. Since the machines are not available in government hospitals, the Department hopes to get referrals once it is opened to the public.
Subsequently, the staff pointed out that there is need for space to set up the new equipment since their clinic is full. They also emphasized on the need for more enhanced training to staff as well as an addition of staff to maintain the equipment.
The names of the donated equipment are: Humphrey Visual Field, Fundus Camera and Automated Tonometer. Each of them came in threes.
