DOH calls on public to take care of their eyes

Tacloban City (30 August) — The Department of Health called on the public to take care of their eyes, have their eyes checked up in order to prevent blindness later in life.

The reminder was made as part of the national observance of this month as Sight-Saving Month whose theme is, “Excellence and Equity in Eye Care: A Human Right”.

This call was made as about 3.4 Million Filipinos are visually impaired, according to the 3rd National Blindness Survey conducted in 2002. Of these, about 3.2 million have visual impairment in one or both eyes, while 461,121 are blind in both eyes.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III informed that “we have coordinated a nationwide eye screening and cataract surgery with selected government and private hospitals, so I urge the public to have their eyes checked up to prevent blindness later in life.”

The same survey showed that blindness was most common among the elderly and the poor who have little or no access to health services, the Department of Health report stated. As one grows older, one gets more prone to have an error of refraction, or glaucoma, or cataract, or blindness due to diabetes, hypertension.

Based on the same survey, the top three causes of visual impairment are cataract, error of refraction, and glaucoma. Cataract is the number one cause of reversible blindness in the country, with prevalence highest among the poor and underserved. Errors of refraction can usually be corrected with eyeglasses.

Experts said that glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that gradually lead to loss of vision, often without warning. This disease is hardly preventable when blindness has set in. What is important is early detection; however, this can only be done with high technology equipment. This makes the number of glaucoma cases under-estimated.

Quality and affordable eye care must be made accessible to all Filipinos of all social strata. This is a basic right that should be accorded to everyone, without discrimination as to age, sex, gender, religion, race, or social standing. The challenge now is how to bring affordable and excellent eye care to all areas of the country.

This year, the DOH and its partner agencies and organizations under the National Committee for Sight Preservation, aims to put up local Committees for Sight Preservation in the different regions and provinces of the country. Under their local chief executives (LCEs), these committees will coordinate the delivery of eye care services at the local level, such as eye screening and cataract surgery programs for the indigent constituents of the community.

A local Committee for Sight Preservation will be composed of ophthalmologists, optometrists, local health care personnel, representatives of civic organizations and non-government organizations, and volunteers from the community. (PIA