By Ndumiso Khuzwayo
The Durban University of Technology’s Student Counselling Services hosted an enlightening Visual Impairment Day this week at the Steve Biko campus to shed light on the challenges surrounding visual impairment.
Public health specialist and UKZN Discipline of Optometry lecturer, France Nxumalo, engaged with DUT students, emphasising the importance of addressing visual impairment.
“We need to talk about this thing (visual impairment). As people who understand that although I’m not affected by it, but the fact that there is another person who is affected it must be of concern to me,” he said.
He highlighted the limitations vision impairment has on individuals. “It starts to deprive people of opportunities in life. However, most vision impairment can be corrected by a pair of spectacles, depending on the cause.”
He added that visual impairment is a pressing concern in the world and recognised by the World Health Organization.
He pointed out that in South Africa some children fall behind in their studies because of untreated vision impairment.
He says he is optimistic that the new National Health Insurance (NHI) Act will help bridge the gap. “We are in a country where we have close to 4 000 optometrists, but only less than 500 in the public sector. When you go to a hospital, you’ll find that they are so busy, but there are no lines in the private sector because most patients cannot afford their services. What the NHI intends to do is to bring access to capacity, how we can share resources within sectors,” said Nxumalo.
A representative from the DUT Disability Rights Unit (DRU), Simphiwe Mkhwanazi, outlined critical issues affecting students with disabilities.
Amahle Radebe, a DUT student, shared her personal struggles with poor eyesight and how it has affected her life. “Growing up, I always struggled to keep up with my peers. Simple tasks like reading, writing, washing dishes or doing laundry were hard to do and are still hard to do without my glasses,” she said.
He said: “Most students aren’t exposed to organisations like the DRU, they might tick the disability box in the CAO (Central Applications Office), but once they are inside university, they are not aware of organisations that can be beneficial to them.”
The day highlighted the need for awareness, support and inclusivity.
