Abstract

  There is a rapid change in the global landscape of health and development occasioned by the novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. This paper explores the possible impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on the eye health of children in low and middle-income countries. With causes of childhood blindness arising from unmet eye care needs of children, coronavirus associated challenges have an advanced impact on children's eye health through direct pathological anomalies, poor uptake of immunization, travel restrictions to access care, reprioritization of health resources, weak health systems, and economic consequences. Adequate hygiene through handwashing, vigilance on toddlers, immunization of children, and accessing care for obvious pathological anomalies like conjunctivitis, measles, mumps, and rubella are all advocated for parents and caregivers to protect the eye health of children. Also, holistic interventions to the challenges of children’s eye health occasioned by the Coronavirus pandemic will require evidence from health systems research to guide meaningful interventions in the protection of children’s eye health. Governments at all levels must unite efforts with development partners to strengthen health systems and secure the eye health of children in a coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) era.

Keywords: Children; Eye Health; Coronavirus Disease; Visual Impairment

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Citation

Citation: Samuel Chibueze Osuji. “Children's Eye Health as Impacted by the Coronavirus Disease (Covid-19) Pandemic: A Systematic Review". Acta Scientific Medical Sciences 4.12 (2020): 28-33.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2020 Samuel Chibueze Osuji. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.