UNS — Research Group (RG) Pregnancy Health Delivery and Child Development Faculty of Medical Science (FK) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta held a Community Service program in the form of counseling and examination for refraction disorder for students of Muhammadiyah 13 Elementary School Serengan Surakarta. The event was attended by 30 students and 5 teachers and was implemented at the end of August 2020 in H. Inoe Potrojayan Mosque Serengan Surakarta.
In their written release, Dr. Senyum Indrakila, dr, Sp.M. stated that this program aims to support the Program Vision 2020, the right to sight. A program in the form of commitment signed by at least 40 countries during the 56th World Health Assembly in 2003 to support the Elimination of Avoidable Blindness program, a program to reduce eye disease that can lead to blindness. The program is expected to prevent and tackle impaired vision, especially in Elementary School students. Because at this age, vision ability can still develop optimally.
An example of vision-related impairment is low vision or refraction disorder, which is selected as FK UNS RG’s focus. This disorder is a disorder when the eyes process a vision due to an imbalance in the eye’s optics, which results in a blurry image. Refraction disorder is an eye disorder that often occurs and is still a public health issue globally, including in Indonesia.
A member of the RG, Erindra Budi, S.Kep.Ns, M.Kes, added that the prevalence of refraction disorder in Indonesia is 25% of the total population or around 55 million Indonesian people. According to the 2013 basic health research (riskesdas) in Central Java, the percentage of severe low vision was 1.1% of the total population or around 329,428 people with visual impairment. This condition becomes the focus problem, which requires an active role to prevent and solve vision impairment.
“Ten percent of 66 million school children in Indonesia suffer from refraction disorder. Without proper treatment, this can cause blindness and reduce the quality of young generations,” Erindra Budi, S.Kep.Ns, M.Kes stated on Monday (21/12/2020).
Erindra Budi added that through this program, parents, students, teachers, and related parties would be more aware of the disorder that can cause blindness through preventive and promotive programs. Therefore, this community service program is expected to provide children’s rights so that they can have healthy eyesight and can learn optimally. The program was implemented well thanks to the teamwork from RG Pregnancy Health Delivery and Child Development FK UNS led by Prof. Dr. Soetrisno, dr, SpOG(K), and its members, Dr. Senyum Indrakila, dr, SpM. Annang Giri, dr, SpA, Hary Wahyu, dr, SpA. Hafi Nurinasari, dr, SpOG, Tri Nugraha, dr, Ph.D., and Erindra Budi, S.Kep.Ns, M.Kes. The program was also supported by the Institute of Research and Community Service (LPPM) UNS, Muhammadiyah 13 Elementary School Serengan Surakarta, and H. Inoe Potrojayan Mosque Takmir Serengan Surakarta. HUMAS UNS
Reporter: Ratri Hapsari
Editor: Dwi Hastuti