All in a day’s work
Find out how our very own Sarah Muddle got on when she spent the morning with Priyantha Kumari, a Sri Lankan public health midwife.
I had been on the road for four days and was now heading towards my next destination, Ratnapura, a town nestled in the foothills of the famous pilgrimage destination, Adam's Peak. As a huge fan of the traditional British cuppa it was very exciting to find myself travelling through the stunning central highlands of Sri Lanka, home to some of the World’s most productive and tasty tea plantations.
Since 2008 Sightsavers has been working with Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Health to integrate primary eye care into the government’s existing primary health system to reduce the levels of avoidable blindness in the country. We are currently piloting a programme training public health midwives in eye care, meaning eye problems are being tackled at grassroots level.
The majority of these midwives are women, who provide home and community based care and form the backbone of the country’s primary healthcare system. In 2000 there were over 5,000 midwives in Sri Lanka, each responsible for between 3,000-4,000 people. The network should reach every household, in theory the entire population of Sri Lanka.
Public health midwives can be trained and supported at very little cost (as low as £4), and this programme teaches them to identify minor eye problems, giving first aid and referring more complex cases, such as cataract and glaucoma, for treatment. Once they have received training they are given a primary eye care kit (costing £11) containing a rechargeable torch, two vision charts, eye pads, cotton buds, plasters etc. Their role is absolutely essential to ensuring that no child becomes needlessly blind.
Priyantha Kumari is a public health midwife who usually travels by motorbike to ensure she reaches the 850 families (approximately 4200 people) assigned to her. I can see why. As we leave the town, the roads immediately deteriorate and in some places we barely manage to get the car through the rough tracks taking us to our first stop, a preschool on the outskirts of Kuruwita.
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