Govt’s eyecare vouchers now available to all citizens

Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony has announced that eye testing services will be expanded nationwide this year, allowing anyone who requires an eye exam to access the $2000 eye testing vouchers and up to $15,000 in assistance toward spectacles.

This expanded healthcare voucher programme now allows all citizens to get eye care support following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Thursday with 67 private healthcare providers.

According to the Health Ministry, the change will enable all individuals to access the vouchers, removing the previous age restrictions that limited the service to persons aged 18 and under and those 50 years and older.

“This year, what we want to do is to ensure that we open it up now for anyone who requires an eye test, [so they] would be able to get that eye test. And if, when you test their eyes, they need spectacles, then they will also have access to the $15,000. So I think it would now widen to everybody in the population. And so I think that would be a positive thing,” he said.

He also emphasised the need to extend testing to Regions One (Barima–Waini), Seven (Cuyuni–Mazaruni); Eight (Potaro–Siparuni) and Nine (Upper Takutu–Upper Essequibo), as well as targeted outreaches in parts of Region 10 (Upper Demerara–Berbice), in order to bring eye care to underserved populations. He urged stakeholders to collaborate in reaching these non-traditional areas throughout the year.

“While we have been trying our best to roll out to every region, we still have challenges, and we don’t want people to just be on the coast.
We want people to go into some of the regions where they don’t have these tests on a regular basis.”