Residents of Riabai Ward will receive free eye screening, treatment and reading glasses this Saturday as Kiambu MP Machua Waithaka steps up a constituency-wide campaign aimed at tackling preventable vision problems among children, the elderly and low-income families.
The free eye clinic, organised by the Office of the Member of Parliament in partnership with Mila Optics under the Mission for Perfect Vision initiative, will be held at St. Joseph Secondary School in Riabai from 8.30 a.m. on August 8. The outreach will offer free eye screening, professional consultations, medication and reading glasses, with services provided by qualified eye care professionals.
The initiative adds to a broader healthcare programme that the legislator has been implementing since 2023, when he launched an ambitious campaign to identify and treat eyesight and hearing problems among pupils in public primary schools across Kiambu Constituency.
Waithaka has urged residents to turn up in large numbers and encouraged families to bring elderly relatives and children for screening, noting that early diagnosis can prevent avoidable blindness and improve quality of life.
“Come early and invite your family, friends and neighbours,” the MP said while announcing the medical camp, describing the initiative as part of his commitment to expanding access to healthcare services at the grassroots.
The latest outreach builds on a school health programme that has seen hundreds of learners screened for vision and hearing complications.
The programme was inspired by the legislator’s visit to Mungai Chengecha Primary School in Kanunga village in 2023, where he observed that several pupils were struggling to see classroom work because of untreated eye conditions.
During the visit, Waithaka facilitated comprehensive eye examinations and donated prescription spectacles to learners diagnosed with vision impairments.
“The pupils were diagnosed and will be wearing spectacles and I have facilitated the same,” he said at the time.
He noted that many children in public schools suffer from eyesight and hearing problems that remain untreated because their families cannot afford specialised medical care.
“There are pupils in different schools in the constituency who have sight and hearing problems which have affected their learning, yet their parents are unable to take them to hospital because of financial constraints,” he said.
According to the MP, poor vision often translates into poor academic performance, low classroom participation and, in some cases, school absenteeism, making early intervention critical.
He argued that investing in children’s health is as important as investing in classrooms and learning materials, saying education outcomes depend not only on infrastructure but also on learners’ physical well-being.
“The pupils’ health comes first and it calls for a concerted effort to help them,” he said.
Waithaka also disclosed that he had drafted a motion seeking to strengthen school health interventions and improve access to vision and hearing screening for learners, arguing that regular medical assessments should become part of the education system.
The Riabai eye clinic is expected to benefit hundreds of residents, particularly older persons who require reading glasses and vulnerable households that would otherwise struggle to meet the cost of specialised eye treatment.
The initiative reflects a growing trend among elected leaders to complement government healthcare services through community medical camps targeting preventable diseases, while addressing barriers that keep many rural and low-income residents from accessing routine medical care.
Health experts have consistently emphasised that regular eye examinations are essential for early detection of conditions such as cataracts, glaucoma, refractive errors and diabetes-related eye disease, many of which can lead to permanent vision loss if left untreated.
Residents have been advised to arrive early for registration to enable healthcare teams to attend to as many patients as possible during the one-day medical outreach.
