Huge turnout at free eye - testing centre

ISAAC PINIELO
Correspondent | Tuesday February 9, 2010 00:00

Officially opening the event, Minister of health, Dr John Seakgosing said First Sight has provided more than 3.4 million cataracts surgeries globally, expanded eye hospitals and improved eye care services in many countries including Botswana.

According to Seakgosing, the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that there are about 45 million blind people and that every five seconds one person in the world goes blind, while every minute a child loses his or her sight. It also estimates that 269 million people have low vision, and out of this number, 145 million people are blind because of uncorrected refractive errors.

He indicated that this number is likely to increase to 76 million people by the year 2020 if no effective or major interventions are done.

'The number of blind people is alarming. Visually impaired persons have a whole world of opportunities closed to them, some are condemned to a life of poverty,' said Seakgosing.

Uncorrected refractive errors which affect persons of all ages, he noted, are the main causes of vision impairment. He said: 'They may result in lost education, employment opportunities, lower productivity and impaired quality of life. This is a tragedy considering that most of this blindness can be treated with the use of spectacles.'

He said globally, cataract - which is a clouding of the lens of the eye - is the leading cause of blindness and it is mostly related to ageing, adding that whilst it cannot be prevented, cataract surgery has been shown to be one of the most cost-effective health care interventions. He said blindness from diabetic retinopathy - a complication of diabetes mellitus (sugar diabetes) and glaucoma (damage to the nerve that helps to see) - which causes high pressure in the eye is not reversible but potentially preventable.

Dr Seakgosing therefore urged every adult over the age of 40 to have their eyes tested every year, especially if they have a family history of glaucoma or blindness. He also said all those with diabetes should also have their eyes tested annually, saying they too are prone to blindness.

'There are many adults who are not blind but can no longer read, thread a needle or see small objects, especially in poor light. This is called presbyopia or old sight. This happens to most people after the age of 40 years, but can be easily corrected with the use of spectacles,' said the minister. He said in Botswana the prevalence of blindness in adults 50 years and above is 37%, which translates to a national prevalence of 0.6%. In an effort to address the problem, Botswana government has established eye care services at all levels of the health care systems and has developed the national Vision 2020 plan.

For his part, Francistown Lions Club member, Dr Veera Sayana said free eye testing and presentation of free eyeglasses to the deserving community was organised by Lions of Botswana with the sponsorship of Spar group management, and was conducted in nine centres.

The first tests were conducted on February 7 at Marang Super Spar (Francistown), Spar Kgale (Gaborone) and Spar Serowe (Serowe). More tests will be conducted next Saturday at OK Chemist in Lobatse, on Sunday at Spar Nzano (Francistown), Spar Palapye, and on the 20th at Village Super Spar (Gaborone), 21st at Mafenyatlala Super Spar (Molepolole) and Re Ka Kgona in Selibe-Phikwe.

In Francistown, a total of 150 glasses were distributed to diagnosed patients.