Singapore VisionCare Programme
Singapore Women’s Association (SWA) in collaboration with other voluntary bodies: the National Safety Council, the Association for the Visually Handicapped, NTUC and the Singapore National Eye Centre founded the Singapore VisionCare Programme(SVP). Mr Yeo Cheow Tong, then Acting Minister for Health, launched the Singapore VisionCare Programme on 22nd April 1990. Since then, many of our members have assiduously sacrificed their weekends to run this programme.
Our objectives
- Public education on the prevention of blindness, eye-care, eye diseases and treatment available
- To deliver eye care services to the community for early detection and prevention of any eye disorders, thus improving vision and quality of life.
- To reach out to the elderly above the age of 40 to detect any eye problems: in partnership with community clubs, old folks’ homes and mosques, volunteer doctors (from the Singapore National Eye Centre(SNEC); National University Hospital(NUH); Tan Tock Seng hospital and those in private practice) along with swa members conduct free eye screening sessions on sundays.
Since its launch in 1990, SVP has been running its programme in collaboration with other voluntary bodies including the National Safety Council, NTUC, Singapore Association for the Visually Handicapped (SAVH), NUH, the National Eye Centre and private doctors. This well-received initiative aims to reach out to the elderly and educate them on the importance of eye care, as well as the prevention of eye diseases. Anny Leow is the Co-Chair and Dr Khoo Chong Yew is the Chairperson. Dr Khoo passed on 16 Nov at the age of 78. The exco approved that Dr Stephanie Young will be the Chairperson of SVP and Anny Leow will continue to be the co-chairperson. SWA conducted on average 10 screenings each year and over 1000 senior citizens are screened in the Old Folks Home, Community Centers and Community Clubs annually. Project I Care is a project supported by NWCDC, in which we have been doing eye screening for the home for the past ten years.
