The Launch of Eye Care Week

25 Jul 2005

By Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman, Parliamentary Secretary

Venue: Evergreen Primary School, 31 Woodlands Circle

Mr. Lam Pin Woon, Acting CEO, Health Promotion Board

Mr. Wong Siew Hoong, Director, Schools Division

Mr. Tan Kah Teo, Principal, Evergreen Primary School

Distinguished Guests

Teachers, Parents

Boys and Girls

Good afternoon

It is my pleasure to be here this afternoon to launch Eye Care Week, a week to remind us of the importance of caring for our eyes.

Myopia or shortsightedness is a big concern in Singapore as more children are getting myopic at a younger age. In addition, myopia also progresses faster among our children. A recent report by researchers from the Singapore Eye Research Institute indicates that, on average, myopia progresses by about 80 degrees each year in Singapore's lower primary school children - a rate of progression that is far higher than that in most other countries. The younger the onset of myopia the greater the risk of progression to severe myopia. Severe myopia can cause complications that may lead to blindness. 

The trend of our children having myopia is worrying.  In 1988, 16% or 6,500 of our Primary 1 students had defective vision.  The figure went up to 25% or 12000 Primary 1 students in 1996.  In 2002, it went up further to 30% or 14,800  Primary 1 students.  We now see almost a third of our Primary 1 students have defective vision.  This figure doubles by the time they are in Primary 6. The Singapore Eye Research Institute study showed that in 2004, about 6% of Primary 5 students had severe myopia of 600 degrees or more. In view of the potentially blinding complications of severe myopia these are worrying figures.

So what can we do to tackle this problem? We know that myopia has certain risk factors. Firstly, there is the genetic factor. This means that if one or both of our parents have myopia, we have a higher chance of developing myopia too. Secondly, there are environmental and behavioural factors that may contribute to myopia.  Near work is the main environmental factor that has been shown to be linked to myopia. "Near work" refers to any activity that requires us to focus on something within an arm's length - for example, reading, writing, using the computer or playing handheld computer games.

While there is little we can do to change our genes, there are many ways in which we can control the amount of continuous near work we do. The simplest way is to take regular vision breaks of 3 to 5 minutes after 30 to 40 minutes of continuous near work by looking at distant objects. Also, we can cut down the amount of time spent on near work by exercising or playing outdoors more often.  For example, instead of spending hours playing soccer on the computer or X-Box, why not get your soccer ball and a couple of friends, and play soccer for real. I'm sure all of you can come up with many other simple ways of giving your eyes a break from near work. 

Besides vision breaks, there are other good eye care habits that you can practise. It is important, for example, to maintain proper distances when doing nearwork or watching TV. The recommended reading distance is 30cm - about the length of a long ruler; don't get too close to the computer monitor - you should sit about 50cm away.  When watching TV or playing video games, make sure that you're at least 2m from the TV screen.  

The National Myopia Prevention Programme was launched by the Health Promotion Board in 2001 to tackle the problem of increasing myopia rates among Singapore school children. Since its inception, HPB has worked closely with the Ministry of Education's Steering Committee for the National Myopia Prevention Programme to promote good eye care habits in schools.  The Committee, led by the Director of Schools, has helped to set the guidelines on promotion of vision care in schools and preschools, looks into providing a conducive school environment for promoting good eye care such as lighting, as well as encourages schools to promote vision breaks and good eye care habits to their students. 

In 2004, Eye Care Week was introduced to all primary schools to increase awareness of myopia and to encourage students to take regular vision breaks and adopt good eye care habits.  This year, as part of the National Myopia Prevention Campaign, Eye Care Week will be held from the 25th to the 29th of July.  During the week, all primary schools are encouraged to organise activities teaching students good eye care habits.

The appointment of students as Eye Care Monitors to remind teachers to give their class regular vision breaks was introduced last year. I hope that the Eye Care Monitors have remained active and that vision breaks are part of their classes' daily routine by now.  This year, schools are encouraged to involve their Eye Care Monitors in the planning and implementation of their schools' Eye Care Week activities. We hope that this move will encourage students' ownership of eye care-related activities for the whole school and motivate all students to take their vision breaks and practise good eye care habits.

To facilitate schools in the organisation of their Eye Care Week, an activity pack entitled "Your Guide to Organising an Eye Care Week" has been distributed to all primary schools. Activities suggested include organising a skit, a rap performance or taking part in a competition to choose the classroom with the best eyecare-related decor.

I would like to commend Evergreen Primary School for its fine efforts in educating students on good eye care habits and offering its premises for the launch of this year's Eye Care Week. All of us play an important role in dealing with the problem of myopia among our students. I would like to encourage all schools to keep up the good work they've been doing to educate our children on taking vision breaks and practising good eye care habits. I hope too that schools will continue to facilitate the practice of these good habits through the implementation of eye care-related policies and participation in related programmes.

Apart from schools, the home too is a critical environment that must be conducive to ensure good eye care. This rising trend of myopia that I highlighted earlier and the fact that myopia is starting younger in our children mean that parents need to help their children take regular vision breaks and practise good eye care habits even before they start primary school. It is most parents' joy to see their young children read, to them, the younger, the better. While this is understandable, parents need to be taught how to achieve this not at the expense of their children's eyesight at such an early stage. Good eye care practices must also be practiced at home with young children, especially when myopia is likely to be genetically acquired. In this regard, while encouraging the reading habit, parents can get their children books with larger print and spend more time reading to them.  Parents should also be mindful of the distances between the television set and computer screens and their children. To our young students, go home and tell your parents what needs to be done at home.

I wish all of you a successful Eye Care Week and hope that you will continue to practise good eye-care not just this week but throughout your life.

Thank you.