Working with our partners, we have opened a special computer laboratory in Kingston, Jamaica © Sightsavers

Jamaica

Jamaica is the third largest of the Greater Antilles with a population of over 2.7 million.

Sightsavers in Jamaica

We are supporting our partner the Caribbean Council for the Blind (CCB) to develop eye care services in two existing government hospitals, Mandeville Public Hospital and Cornwall Hospital. These are primarily focusing on support of cataract surgery, with the intention to develop other services such as refractive and low vision services. Once fully evolved, these two programmes will have the capacity to provide quality eye services to half the country.

Our support to Mandeville Hospital has also helped to relocate their Eye Department to a larger building. The out-patients department is almost complete and this will provide a much improved working environment. The next stage will be to develop a dedicated theatre for Ophthalmology, thus improving eye services for the Parish of Manchester.

Sightsavers in partnership with CCB support a Computer Lab for Visually Impaired persons and training of Primary Healthcare workers and community workers in eye care. We work to expand inclusive education services to rural Jamaica. In addition we provide some sponsorship to Caribbean Blind Cricket teams, including the Jamaican team.

New technology means a brighter future

Achievements

 

Delivering V2020 in Jamaica

With our partners in Jamaica we are supporting the training and development of:

• 7 refractionists
• 5 optometrists
• 3 ophthalmologists
• 3 low vision specialists
• 20 low vision councillors
• 360 primary health care workers
• 2 spectacle lab technicians
• 3 maintenance technicians
• 4 vision centres
• 1 spectacle lab
•  1 surgical theatre