Eye Health Hero: Junu Shrestha

Junu, at age of 12 proved herself as an eye health hero by accepting to help a visually challenged girl, Sristi KC who was struggling for her government board exam of grade 10. From the government board exam to university exams, Junu helped her write in all the exams. Junu was the hero behind the curtain when Sristi was awarded the gold medal for being the university topper.

I am delighted to write about Junu, who is perseverant on her dreams. She is the Chevening scholar for 2020/21 and is pursuing MSc Health Policy, Planning and Financing at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Junu has shown a good example that despite being a female optometrist, they can come up to leadership and policy level. I wish her a bright future ahead.I am delighted to write about Junu, who is perseverant on her dreams.

“Treating cases in eye clinic or hospitals can improve their eye health, but beyond them there lies the huge mass of people in community who cannot come to seek service. Treating their problem at their place is improving the life of people in community as a whole. I love to work in between those who are in need and those who reach out to them for service.”

– Junu Shrestha

Junu had joined Health and Education for Poverty Alleviation (HEPA) as a young volunteer in 2011. Since then she has been actively participating in organizing and managing more than 100 eye screening camps in different parts of Nepal, advocating about eye health to school teachers and local people. When she was studying Optometry in Institute of Medicine, Nepal she had a successful tenure of president in Nepal Optometry Students’ Society. She overcame the crippling economic crisis of society by designing some new vision therapy cards. Those were then included into a home based vision therapy kit, being prescribed to cases. The society was then able to raise the rate of kit which provided a good economic relief.

Junu has served in an eye hospital as optometry officer, but due to her great passion towards exploring health of unreached people in community, she joined Masters in Public Health in TU once again. During her study too, she was busy volunteering HEPA for managing health camps. She was our first member to have received with donation of ophthalmic instruments from IAPB and Keeler jointly for HEPA. We were overwhelmed with her dedication to serve people.

She has been actively involved in policy advocacy for optometry professional developments, as she has not left any opportunity to recognize the profession. She was the head of the event management committee and master of ceremony in the first optometry conference in Nepal, coordinator for the world sight day program 2019 -organized at the Ministry and provincial coordinator of Vision Screening March Month 2020-campaign targeted to screen 0.1million people all over Nepal.