A1 and BCF's project "I Can See!" has expanded: three teams of doctors are screening schoolchildren's eye health in Vitebsk Region.

As the new school year begins, a major charity project "I Can See!" is back on track with eye health screening for schoolchildren in Vitebsk Region. Two teams of ophthalmologists are now joined by the third one to work in Braslav and Postavy Districts. This will enable doctors to screen a total of 15,000 schoolchildren from 21 districts of Vitebsk Region.

"I Can See!" is a project of Belarusian Children's Fund and A1 Company supported by Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Belarus. From September to December 2019, mobile medical teams will continue their work in Miory, Talachyn, Chashniki, Liozno, Gorodok, Vitebsk, Ushachy, Sharkawshchyna, Shumilina, Polotsk, Lepel, Braslav and Postavy Districts. Around 10,000 schoolchildren will receive ophthalmological counseling.

Check-ups at schools are arranged so that 1-11-graders could learn of their possible eyesight disorders soon enough to get timely help. Three special-service vehicles are equipped with everything necessary for eye health screening. After the examinations, schoolchildren are given a medical assessment of their visual health as well as prescriptions and referrals to further diagnostics or surgical treatment, if necessary. All children also receive leaflets with rules on how to preserve their eye health.

Phase 1 of the project in Vitebsk Region took place in spring, before summer holidays, in village schools of Orsha, Dubrowna, Beshankovichy, Glubokoye, Dokshytsy, Rasony, and Syanno Districts. Around 5.5 thousand pupils had their eyes examined during three spring months. More than 30% of children were diagnosed with eye disorders.

"Child healthcare is one of the top priorities for our organization. This includes care for the preservation of schoolchildren's eyesight and hence their quality of life. Due to the charity project "I Can See!", ophthalmological help has comes to kids where they live and learn for the fourth year in a row. Their parents talk to doctors right there on the spot and receive counseling on the state of their children's health. After all, many kids and their parents only learn about their eyesight issues when mobile medical teams arrive. And the sooner the treatment starts, the more likely it is to prevent serious eye conditions," said Irina Chernyakova, Deputy Director of the Belarusian Children's Fund.

The work of mobile teams, special equipment, ophthalmologists' salaries, and other project-related expenses are covered by the Belarusian Children's Fund from the contributions raised by A1 Company as part of their annual charity event "So Easy to Do Good!". In 2019, 176,920 rubles was raised and transferred to the Fund's account.

"Helping children remains an ongoing priority of the A1 Corporate Social Responsibility. Thousands of children throughout the country have received timely ophthalmological help for as many as four years within the "I Can See!" Project. An extra team of doctors has now joined the project. This way they will cover even more schools, detecting eye problems and talking to schoolchildren about ways to prevent them", said Viktor Pozdnyakov, the Head of the Corporate Social Responsibility Group, A1.

Vitebsk Region is the fourth region of Belarus where the Belarusian Children's Fund and A1 Company are holding their joint project "I Can See!". In 2016-2018, medical examinations were arranged in Mogilev, Gomel, and Brest Regions, where 36,800 children had their eyesight checked up. Various disorders were diagnosed in more than 33% of students. Most of them learnt about it for the first time from the mobile medical teams.