Ghanaians have been advised to take their eye health seriously by doing periodic eye screening in order for early detection of eye conditions that could be treated early enough to save their sights.
The advice came on the back of increasing trends in eye conditions such as glaucoma, especially among the elderly in the country.
The trend was detected during an eye screening exercise for residents of Tsito and surrounding communities in the HO West District on the occasion of World sight day.
The Eye Screening exercise which was under the auspices of the Ghana Optometric Association and its donor agencies and Pharmaceutical partners in conjunction with the Eye Secretariat of the Ghana Health Service saw in attendance, over a thousand people in the area, about 80 per cent of which are the elderly.
The President of the Ghana Optometric Association, DSP Dr. Remi Ninkpe, speaking to Joy News, indicated that cataract and refractive errors form the major and most common conditions of the people in the area, which could be corrected with minor treatments, however, the most serious conditions which were detected such as glaucoma constitute about 20 per cent of patients who were screened.
Currently, Ghana’s prevalence of blindness has been estimated at 0.74 per cent which translates to more than 190,000 blind people in the country.
Dr. Ninkpe, however says the problem could have been non-existent but for the unavailability of sufficient eye clinics and a lack of a good referral system in the country.
DSP Dr. Ninkpe cautioned the public to take their eye health seriously and endeavour to go for eye checks up at least once in a year.
World Sight Day is celebrated every 2nd Thursday of October, to mark successes and celebrate the restoration of sight in the millions.
The DCE for Ho West District, Ernest Apau who was directly involved assured the residents that similar programs would be brought to the district regularly to address the medical needs of the people
The exercise which saw over five hundred residents from the district patronized was sponsored by the Ho West district assembly.