By Mario Casayuran
Senator Edgardo Juan ‘’Sonny’’ M. Angara Saturday welcomed the signing into law by Malacanang of the National Vision Screening Act (Republic Act 11358) as a vital tool for parents to detect the eye problems of their children at an early age, and address these while they still can.

Sen. Sonny Angara
(Senate of the Philippines / MANILA BULLETIN)

As the principal author of the law in the Senate, Angara said the law would “provide parents some degree of comfort in knowing that whatever problems there are with the eyesight of their young children will be detected right away” through vision screening tests done while they are still in kindergarten.

“Ang problema sa mga bata na edad 5 o 6 ay hindi pa nila alam kung may problema na sila sa mga mata nila. Kadalasan ang nangyayari ay sa panahon na nalaman ng mga magulang nila na may problema ay malala na ito at mahirap nang maagapan,” Angara said. (The eye problem of children when they reach five or six years old is not yet manifest. Parents would belatedly realize that the eye problem of their children is already serious, making it difficult to treat.)

“Once we have the vision screening program in place in all kindergarten levels of schools, then the parents will be able to immediately consult their eye doctors to treat the eye or visual problems of their children,” he explained.

Under the law, the ‘’vision screening program’’ will be implemented by the Department of Education (DepEd), in coordination with the Department of Health (DOH) and the Philippine Eye Research Institute.

Once the proper training for the teachers is completed, vision screening kits, consisting of charts with symbols or numbers, occluders and transparent response key, will be provided to all schools to test the eyesight of the children.

If and when new modes of vision screening become available, these will be adopted for the use in the schools.

A vision screening database containing the results of the screening per child and visual conditions diagnoses by the eye care practitioners will also be established for monitoring purposes.

The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) will be tasked to develop a benefit package for the consultation and treatment of eye diseases of children.

“Hindi naman kasi lahat ng pamilya ay may kakayahan na gumastos para sa pagpapagamot ng mga sakit sa mata ng anak nila. Ayaw naman natin na mangyari na papabayaan na lang ang ito dahil sa walang pera na pang check up at pambili ng salamin,” Angara said. (Not all families have the means to have their children treated. We will not allow that the eye problem of children would deteriorate because parents do not have the finances for check up and purchase of eyeglasses.)

Angara warned that many of these vision problems, if not treated, could cause permanent visual impairment, which in turn could very well adversely affect their education and eventually their occupation and way of life in the future.