In bid to close Uganda’s critical shortage of eye care professional to serve the population, eyewear company, Lapaire Uganda has sought to interest students into seeking careers as opticians.
Currently, there are about 500 eye specialists in the country serving a population of over 46 million.
On Saturday, Lapaire Uganda hosted an Open Day at its Ntinda branch, bringing together students from various secondary schools, along with their parents and teachers.
The initiative sought to expose young people to optometry and related professions, with the long-term goal of bridging the country’s eye health gap.
John Hilary Balyejusa, Lapaire Uganda’s Public Relations and Communications Executive, said the program is about preparing the next generation of specialists.
“We organised Lapaire Open Day to expose students to optometry as a career path. Uganda has less than 500 eye specialists for almost 50 million people. That makes access to eye health very difficult,” he said.
“Even if we don’t make any sales from these students, we want to help them grow. Lapaire is beyond optical health—we are immersed in the community and everything we do is meant to benefit the people.”
The initiative also highlighted non-medical roles in the eye care industry. Lapaire’s Human Resource Manager, Mark Muoki, noted that opportunities exist in sales, management, and business operations.
“Eye care is not only about specialists. It’s also about sales and management. What we want is for these students, three to ten years from now, to remember this inspiration and hopefully join the industry,” he said.
For many students, the event was their first real exposure to optometry. Tennisha Birungi, a student from Rise and Shine High School Ntinda, said the session opened her mind to new possibilities.
“Before today, I didn’t know anything about eye specialists or how glasses are made. This initiative is very good—it’s going to help us think beyond the usual careers like doctors or pilots, and consider eye care too.”
Eye specialist Jackline Baboneraawo used the event to call for greater investment in training institutions.
“Uganda has very few schools training eye care specialists—Makerere for optometry and one ophthalmology school in Jinja. That’s why the numbers remain low. If the government could establish more institutions, the future of eye care would be brighter.”
She also encouraged Ugandans to adopt simple eye health practices, such as annual eye check-ups and the 20-20-20 rule for screen users: “After every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds to relax the eyes.”
Beyond the Open Day, Lapaire runs community-driven initiatives under its “Eye Care at Work” campaign and has pledged to join a national road safety campaign linking poor vision to accidents.
With Uganda struggling to meet the demand for eye care, Lapaire hopes its student-focused programs will create a pipeline of specialists to strengthen the sector in the years ahead.
