The eyes are the window to the body and regular eye tests can help to determine your general wellbeing, as well as provide early diagnosis of serious conditions. Recent efforts against blindness and vision loss have reduced the prevalence of blindness and visual impairment dramatically. However, the absolute number of people with blindness has remained stable and the number of people with visual impairment has increased due to population growth.39 million people world-wide are blind. 31 million of them need not be. 4 out of 5 cases of blindness are preventable, or they would be if everybody had access to medical eye care. India has the more blind people (12+ million) than any other country in the world.
World Sight Day (WSD) is celebrated annually on the second Thursday of October. The International theme of World Sight Day 2014 is Universal Eye Health. WSD is a landmark date, reminds us how important it is to look after our eyesight. Good eyesight is of the upmost importance, not just for things like driving or when you’re out and about as a pedestrian, but it can also help maintain one’s quality of life. “Preventing blindness increases access to education, employment and prosperity, and enables greater participation in civil, social and political life.” Restorations of sight, and blindness prevention strategies are among the most cost-effective interventions in health care.A workshop was conducted with police staff of IRBN Sakoh where Dr SK Sharma Eye Surgeon Eye mobile Unit Dharamshala educated all about common eye diseases. Dr BM Gupta CMO Kangra on this occasion shared that department is conducting awareness cum screening activities in Vision Centres throughout the district & in school Cluster during the week 9-15 Oct.
Dr RK Sood District programme officer appealed to all to avail the facility. Lifestyle diseases like Hypertension diabetes damage the retina irreversibly. Under the recently launched preventive health checkup campaign, population of 0.9 lakh will be screened for hypertension, and people detected hypertensive will be made to achieve control to prevent complications like retinopathy. He added that “we recommend that everyone should have their eyes tested at least every year”.Earlier, a message to the society on the importance of this issue “Sight is precious” with candlelight formation in shape of eye by nursing students of Dronacharya Nursing College Hostel at Chamunda to flag off the campaign, where there fresh and second year students participated along with trustees.
No More Avoidable Blindness
Cataract, a clouding of the eye’s lens (the part of the eye responsible for focusing light and producing clear, sharp images) is the leading cause of blindness in India. Although cataracts cannot be prevented, they are relatively easy to cure with surgery.Refractive errors are eye disorders caused by an irregularity in the eye’s shape which makes it difficult for the eye to focus clearly on images, leading to blurred vision. It is the second leading cause of blindness in India (after cataract), although they can’t be prevented, they can be treated after they are detected with spectacles. Govt Schools are covered under School Eye screening, but private schools should also take a similar initiative for eye health of their children.