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In areas like Trans Nzoia in Kenya, hospital staff visit schools to screen for eye problems – picking up the 5-10% who need a follow-up appointment. This means they spend at least 90% of their time examining children who are normal, perhaps not the most efficient use of their precious time.

A new mobile phone vision-screening app means that teachers in rural Kenya can do the screening instead. The app almost tripled the number of children turning up for follow-up appointments, where they are fitted with glasses to help them to focus properly.

Dr Andrew Bastawrous, Associate Professor of International Eye Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK, is the man behind the Peek app – which works on similar principles to the regular wall chart test.

(Image: Teacher using eye-test app, Credit: @Peek Vision)