Advancing Community Health Worker Delivery of Eyeglasses in Uganda

EYElliance recently participated in an exciting and productive workshop with Uganda’s Ministry of Health in partnership with the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), where participants worked together to develop the job aid that will help community health workers deliver eye screenings and provide reading glasses as part of the integrated service package they provide. These health workers, called Village Health Teams in Uganda, are the first point of contact for many people seeking healthcare—especially in rural areas where eyeglasses and eye care is often out of reach. 

This gathering was a huge moment for advancing and operationalizing community health worker delivery of eye care in Uganda.

Bringing together experts from different fields—community health, rehabilitation, eye health, local government, and teams that track and measure health services—the workshop was full of lively discussion and collaboration. The goal was to make sure that everyone’s unique expertise helped shape practical, effective tools that will allow community health workers to identify people who need glasses and connect them to the right services.

What makes this moment significant is that it was very clear that EYElliance's government delivery work in Liberia and elsewhere is truly helping to guide other countries in expanding access to glasses and eye care through community health systems. In Liberia, EYElliance supported the government in creating a range of tools that help community health workers integrate eye care into their everyday work without creating parallel systems. These tools and now being built upon and adapted to develop materials to support Uganda’s Village Health Teams. Uganda's Ministry of Health Community Health Monitoring and Evaluation team is referencing the data collection tools developed for Liberia to adapt their reporting tools to integrate eye health.

This is a huge step toward making sure that more people in Uganda—especially those in rural communities—can access the glasses and eye care they need to work, learn, and thrive. There’s more work ahead, but this workshop was a powerful example of how countries can learn from one another to strengthen their health systems and make vision care a priority for all.