COS Celebrates Indigenous Children Eye Examination Project, Impacting 6,000 Lives to Date

Wednesday, August 16 2023 | 02 h 13 min | News

August marks Children’s Eye Health and Safety Month, and as good vision is significantly important for a child’s growth and well-being, the Canadian Ophthalmological Society (COS) wants to raise awareness about the importance of eye exams and highlight the work that’s being done by the Indigenous Children Eye Examination (ICEE) project.

To date, ICEE has helped provide eye care to over 6,000 Indigenous children in the towns of Moosonee, Moose Cree First Nation, Attawapiskat First Nation, Fort Albany First Nation, Kashechewan First Nation, Weenusk First Nation and, most recently, Île-à-la-Crosse across Canada.

ICEE, founded by COS member and pediatric ophthalmologist Dr. Kourosh Sabri, is developing a first-of-its-kind, self-sustaining model of eye care for Indigenous children and youth aged six months to 18 years. This model is designed to benefit Indigenous children in underserved areas of Canada and involves training local youth to assess children for eye problems.

The next trip to Attawapiskat First Nation, scheduled for September 15-17, will include a team of five ICEE members, who will be providing training to local youth and will also assess and treat children for possible eye problems.

“Eye screening for children is crucial to detect issues that may go under the radar and cause problems later on in life,” says Dr. Kourosh Sabri, Pediatric Ophthalmologist & Strabismologist and founder of ICEE. “Many children in these Indigenous communities have to travel over one hour by plane to see an eye care professional. Through the ICEE program, we discovered that over 50% of the Indigenous children in these communities have never had an eye exam before. It is critical to develop a national vision screening strategy to prevent long-lasting vision loss, especially in children. ICEE aims to become the national outreach program for delivering eye care to Indigenous children living in the remote and under-served parts of Canada.”