Eye hospital supports the international Vision 2020 campaign to eliminate avoidable blindness
7th October 2015 (Dubai, United Arab Emirates): The facts are clear – every 5 seconds someone in the world goes blind, yet 80 per cent of blindness is avoidable (preventable or treatable). Around 285 million people are visually impaired, worldwide, and two thirds of blind people are women and girls. The world’s leading cause of blindness is cataract – it is also the leading cause of blindness in the UAE – which is curable by a routine, cost effective operation.
World Sight Day (WSD) is an international day of awareness, held annually on the second Thursday of October to focus attention on the global issue of avoidable blindness and visual impairment. The theme of this year’s event is ‘Eye Care for All’. World Sight Day 2015 falls on Thursday 8th October and Moorfields Eye Hospital Dubai (a branch of Moorfields London Eye Hospital) is marking the occasion by highlighting the importance of regular eye checks, for those who are especially vulnerable in the community – people with diabetes, older adults and younger children – in support of the Vision 2020 campaign which aims to eliminate avoidable blindness by 2020.
People with diabetes face a range of health complications including potentially serious eye disease such as diabetic retinopathy, which are manageable with the right screening routine. Older adults also face vision related problems, from macular degeneration to cataracts. Many parents may be very health conscious but still neglect to have a regular eye test for their children. A regular, professional eye test can detect eye problems even before symptoms appear and can prevent conditions developing or becoming more serious. In school children, vision problems can manifest themselves as behavioural problems, resulting in children being labelled ‘slow learners’ or ‘troublesome’ and ‘disruptive’.
Dr Irfan Khan, Consultant Paediatric Ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital Dubai, says: “World Sight Day presents an opportunity for the medical community to raise awareness about the importance of protecting and improving the health of our eyes, which is an important part of our role in the UAE. Screening younger children (around the age of five) is especially important because around 1 in 8 school children have some form of vision problem, and many of these problems would previously have been undiagnosed.
Dr Paola Salvetti, Consultant Ophthalmologist and Medical Retina Specialist commented: “For people with diabetes, vision screening is an essential part of the management of the disease and we recommend an annual check up. The same applies to the over-40s, who will experience some natural change in vision but need to be alert to the possibility of serious problems, which may present with very subtle symptoms that are difficult to pick up until significant vision is lost, resulting in more uncertain recovery possibility. Vision screening is able to pick up many but not all, eye problems – it is not a substitute for a full eye examination. Where problems are found, we recommend a comprehensive examination in an eye centre.”