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The Ophthalmological Society of Ghana (OSG) says that the asymptomatic nature of glaucoma makes everyone vulnerable to the disease, which is one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness.
When it joined the Ghana Glaucoma Patients Association and the Ministry of Health to launch World Glaucoma Week in Accra yesterday, the society asked members of the public to get an eye exam at least once a year. to save sight.
This year’s commemoration was called “The World Is Bright: Save Your Sight.”
Although it is not curable, if glaucoma is diagnosed in its early stages, lifelong treatment may be given to prevent blindness.
Currently, more than 700,000 people are living with the disease in the country, and more than 60,000 are reported to have already been permanently blind.
Silent thief
An ophthalmologist and secretary of GSO, Dr. Dzifa Bella Ofori-Adjei, described the disease as a silent thief of sight, explaining that glaucoma was a generic term that encompassed several different eye diseases that damaged the optic nerve of the eye. , the nerve that transfers visual information. from the retina to the brain.
He said that some known risk factors, such as high pressure in the eye that damages the optic nerve, aging, diabetes, dark skin, family history and nearsightedness (myopia) were to blame for the condition.
He said the only way to prevent it was to have regular eye exams to ensure early detection and treatment.
“When the condition is diagnosed in its early stages, it can be managed effectively to prevent blindness. However, people living with the condition will have to receive strict medications for life, ”he said.
Appeal
Dr. Ofori-Adjei called on the government to include more glaucoma drugs in the National Health Insurance Plan drugs to ensure that affected people continue their treatment to avoid further related blindness.
He also called on the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority to prioritize glaucoma screening as a prerequisite for issuing and renewing driver’s licenses.
He said that could reduce the number of traffic accidents caused by poor vision glaucoma, which he said was very prevalent.
Education
The National President of the Ghana Glaucoma Association, Mr. Harrison Abutiate, said that everyone should be concerned about glaucoma because it is a silent blinding disease.
He said there were no symptoms or warning signs and that it could only be managed to prevent blindness if it was diagnosed early.
Source: graphiconline.com
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