Healthy Athletes Screenings Opening Eyes®, Special Smiles® and Health Promotions — these and other health screening programs have become important fixtures of Special Olympics competition events around the world since the Healthy Athletes® Initiative was launched, with the Opening Eyes program, in 1991. An athlete participating in the First Latin America Games is fitted for eyeglasses by Opening Eyes volunteers. [Photos by Dr. Stephen Corbin] The First Latin America Special Olympics Games were no exception, and 100 volunteer medical professionals at the Healthy Athletes center in the Feria Internacional carried out vision, hearing and health screenings for the athletes competing in San Salvador. An additional 200 athletes from Special Olympics El Salvador also participated in the Healthy Athletes program. At the Opening Eyes vision screening center, Dr. Juan Elias found that Alicia Larriera, a 48-year-old swimmer from Uruguay, was in need of bifocal glasses to help with close-up sewing tasks. This was Dr. Elias' first Special Olympics experience, and smiling broadly, he said, “The athletes have such charisma! Other people hide their feelings, but the athletes are totally open and sincere.” More than 110 other athletes received prescription eyeglasses before departing from El Salvador. Dental students from the University of San Salvador volunteered their time and expertise for the Special Smiles screenings. During four days of screenings at the Special Smiles venue, dental care providers examined 780 athlete's teeth. The 7th year dental students from the University of San Salvador were an enthusiastic group of volunteer practitioners who donated their time and expertise — and gained valuable insights into helping all sectors of society in their future work. Two other initiatives new to the region, Fun Fitness and Fit Feet, were set in motion at the Games in San Salvador. Health providers from Argentina, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela received training during this event, and, in turn, will establish the Fun Fitness and Fit Feet components of Healthy Athletes in their own countries. Regional impact The Healthy Athletes program was launched in Latin America at the 2001 National Games in Ecuador with vision screenings offered to the athletes at the Opening Eyes venue. Currently, 14 of the region's 17 National Programs have an established Healthy Athletes program. By mid-2005, 13,355 athletes had been screened by health professionals in over 36,000 evaluations (teeth, eyes, and general health). The goals in Latin America are for every national program to conduct Healthy Athlete screenings at one major event annually, recruit new volunteers from the health professions and attract new athletes through activities such as Health Fairs and MedFests. Alliances with National Ministries of Health and with university programs such as the Federal University of El Salvador's School of Dentistry are integral goals of the development plan. And in the near future, Special Olympics athletes in the Dominican Republic and Honduras will benefit from health screenings when the region's newest Healthy Athletes programs are launched in their countries.      < Return to main Latin America Regional Games page >