World Sight Day 2016

by Dr C Grant-Ledger

Ophthalmologist

World Sight Day is an annual affair that is celebrated on the second Thursday of October. It is held to increase awareness of blindness and visual impairment.

There are some global facts that are necessary to share:

» Approximately 285 million people worldwide live with low vision and blindness; of these, 39 million people are blind and 246 million have moderate or severe visual impairment.{{more}}

» 90 per cent of blind people live in low-income countries.

Yet 80 per cent of visual impairment is avoidable (readily treatable and/or preventable

» Restorations of sight, and blindness prevention strategies are among the most cost-effective interventions in health care

» The number of people blind from infectious causes has greatly reduced in the past 20 years

» An estimated 19 million children are visually impaired

» About 65 per cent of all people who are visually impaired are aged 50 and older, while this age group comprises only 20 per cent of the world’s population

» Increasing elderly populations in many countries mean that more people will be at risk of age related visual impairment.

The global theme for this October 13, 2016 is “Stronger Together”. Here in SVG, our four ophthalmologists who comprise the Ophthalmology Department at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital have decided to focus this year on Diabetes Mellitus.

Persons with diabetes have a higher risk of developing certain eye diseases, which may include eyelid infections, tear film instability, recurrent corneal erosions, decreased corneal sensitivity with neurotrophic keratopathy, recurrent subconjunctival hemorrhages, cataracts, refractive errors, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, low vision and blindness.

The good news is that you can preserve your vision and reduce chances of eye disease by following a few simple guidelines.

1) Get a comprehensive dilated eye examination from your ophthalmologist at least once a year. In the early stages of diabetic eye disease, patients may not have visual symptoms and early detection of abnormalities enables your ophthalmologist to initiate early treatment.

2) Control your blood sugar. High blood sugar changes the shape of the lens in the eyes and damages blood vessels in the eyes. Increased duration, severity and glycosylated hemoglobin are associated with worsening of diabetic retinopathy.

3) Maintain healthy blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Higher levels of these can increase risk for eye disease and vision loss.

4) Don’t smoke. Tobacco increases the risk of diabetes related eye disease.

5) Exercise. Regular exercise helps to control many chronic non communicable diseases and improves eye health in general.

In an effort to provide universal eye health and promptly diagnose and treat diabetic eye diseases, all diabetic patients should be seen by an ophthalmologist, usually referred by their primary care doctors. Also, care for the diabetic patient is an integrated team effort that includes family support, family doctor and nurse, internist, nephrologist, podiatrist, nutritionist and psychologist.

In SVG with our population of 110 000 persons. It is significant to mention that a total of 7,022 consultations were done at the out patient clinic at MCMH from January to September 2016. Plans are being made to decentralize ophthalmology services to other districts in our country.