Programme Overview

″EYE SCREEN I.CARE″ is an eye care and visual screening programme. The project has provided medical eye care and comprehensive eye examination of up to 20 assessment items for over 750 eye disease patients and their family members since late May 2022.

″EYE SCREEN I.CARE″ advocates ″early screening, early referral, early examination, and early treatment″ to reduce the risks of deterioration of eye diseases. Established a team comprising scientists, interdisciplinary medical specialists, non-government organisations, and business enterprises, the programme operates a weekend platform that offers clinical service, education, and visual screening for patients with thyroid eye disease, IgG4, and dry eye disease, as well as recovered COVID-19 patients. The platform is educational, sustainable, and cost-effective to realise the goal of ″early screening, early referral, early examination, and early treatment″.

• To advocate early check-up for patients and their family members of thyroid eye disease, IgG4-related disease and dry eye disease; and to raise public awareness of these specialist eye diseases
• To advocate ″early screening, early referral, early examination, and early treatment″ to seize the golden period for treatment and prevent permanent damage in eyesight or even blindness
• To improve the physical and mental health of patients with thyroid eye disease and IgG4-related disease
• To promote a positive attitude to deal with ″Post COVID-19 condition″ and deepen public understanding of eye care
• To nurture junior medical and nursing students to participate in the eye examination volunteer service through the ″I LEARN, EYE CARE″ Student Eye Care Ambassador Training Project; and promote eye diseases knowledge to other medical subjects

Funded HK$3.5 million by the Beat Drug Fund under the Security Bureau, the ″iP&ET Scheme″ was conducted from 2017 to 2021.  Led by Dr Kelvin KL CHONG and his research team, the ″iP&ET Scheme″ adopted the latest Virtual Reality (VR) technology, together with infrared pupillometry and eye-tracking technique (iP&ET) to identify individuals with psychoactive substance abuse and evaluate the effect of these drugs on human eyes.

The ″iP&ET Scheme recruited more than 300 drug abusers or drug rehabilitees (i.e. who successfully quit drug abuse) to participate in the project.  The research team also provided various eye examinations for participants in the communities in Hong Kong. With the generous support of volunteers from various sectors and Y’s Men International-Hong Kong District, the ″iP&ET Scheme″ has been successfully concluded. Drawing on the successful experience in the ″iP&ET Scheme″, Dr Kelvin KL CHONG and his research team then extended its research work, outreach and public educational work in the ″EYE SCREEN I.CARE″ Eye Care and Visual Screening Programme.