New Online Program to Support In-School Vision Care Programs

The National Center for Children’s Vision and Eye Health at Prevent Blindness (NCCVEH) has partnered with the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) to create a new online resource to support school nurses in the implementation of stronger vision health programs for the students they serve. More than 12.1 million school-age children, or one in four, have some form of a vision problem which includes refractive errors such as near- and farsightedness, astigmatism, and strabismus. Significant vision problems can begin well before a child reaches school-age. Vision impairments are common conditions, affecting 5 to 10 percent of all preschool-aged children. According to the National Eye Institute, two to five percent of children ages three to five have amblyopia, three to four percent have strabismus, and 10-15 percent have significant refractive error. Read more.