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The glaucoma alert
By Sun News Publishing
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
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In Nigeria, Health Minister, Professor (Mrs) Adenike Grange,
used the occasion of the celebration in Nigeria, to raise
an alarm on the risk of blindness from Glaucoma faced by Nigerians
because of the low awareness of the disease and its slow manifestation.
Dr. Ngozi Njepoume, the Director, Public Health, who represented
the minister at the celebration, which was organized in Nigeria
by the World Glaucoma Association, World Glaucoma Patients
Association, The Nigerian Glaucoma Association and the Opthamological
Society of Nigeria, put the number of Nigerians who are likely
to go blind as a result of glaucoma at 300,000.
Ninety percent of glaucoma cases, she added, are yet to be
diagnosed in developing countries like Nigeria. This indicates
that many persons suffering from the disease in the country
are unaware of it because it often has no symptoms and are
therefore not receiving any treatment.
Glaucoma is a disease caused by increased pressure in the
eye that is medically known as intraocular pressure (IOU).
It results from either a malformation or malfunctioning of
the eye’s drainage structures. When left untreated,
the elevated eye pressure causes irreversible damage to the
optic nerve and retinal fibers, leading to a progressive,
permanent loss of vision.
Many types of glaucoma have no symptoms but one identified
as angle closure glaucoma is reported to be characterized
by undue sensitivity of the eye to light, seeing of rainbow
around light, severe eye pain with blurred vision and redness
of the eye. Secondary glaucoma is said to be caused by other
problems with the eye like trauma, inflammation, previous
surgery and some medications.
Glaucoma can also be congenital and found in infants. Surgery
is required to correct glaucoma when medications fail to reduce
the pressure in the eye. Experts say early detection and treatment
offer the best hope of arresting the decline to blindness.
Glaucoma is a serious health issue in Nigeria. It is a problem
that deserves concerted enlightenment campaigns targeted at
persons aged over 35 who are most at risk of developing the
condition.
There is the need to educate Nigerians in that age bracket
on the symptoms of the disease and encourage them to undergo
annual comprehensive eye checks to detect glaucoma in its
incipient stages.
Emphasis should be on early detection of the disease as the
cost of surgery is well beyond the means of persons in the
lower income bracket in the country.
There should, in fact, be a comprehensive health programme
targeted at detection of insidious diseases like glaucoma.
We hope the alert raised by the health minister signals the
beginning of concerted efforts by our health authorities to
devote attention to and provide the necessary resources to
contain the ravages of the disease.
Beyond the public enlightenment on glaucoma, its symptoms
and the need for regular eye check-ups, the health authorities
should ensure that there is an opthamologist and necessary
facilities in every government hospital to aid early detection
and treatment. A hospital should be dedicated to the treatment
of glaucoma and other eye diseases.
Since the exact cause of glaucoma is yet to be determined
by eye experts, more research into the disease is of utmost
importance.
The National Programme for Prevention of Blindness, which
the Federal Government hopes to use to tackle the problem
through promotion of community and hospital–based research,
clinical training of specialists and acquisition of modern
diagnostic equipment, should be vigorously pursued to prevent
avoidable loss of sight with its deleterious effects on productivity.
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