Head of Glaucoma Working Group of the Ophthalmological Society in Ghana, Dr. Charles Mensah Cofie is urging the youth within the age range of twenty and thirty years to have regular eye checkups to forestall any blindness in future.
According to him, blindness caused by glaucoma is irreversible and regular checkups can detect early signs of glaucoma.
Speaking to the media, as Ghana joins the world to commemorate the 2022 World Glaucoma week, he said early detection will offer doctors the opportunity to offer the needed treatment before it leads to permanent blindness.
According to global reports, Ghana is said to be one of the most glaucoma-affected countries in Africa with 19.4% of blindness due to glaucoma.
Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness, after cataracts. It is estimated that 80 million people in the world live with Open Angle Glaucoma (OAG) and Angle Closure Glaucoma (ACG) of which 11 million are blind.
Dr. Charles Mensah Cofie said, “glaucoma cannot be detected with the ordinary eyes unless through an eye checkup and that makes it a serious eye problem”.
Glaucoma Week
World Glaucoma Week is a joint initiative between the World Glaucoma Association and the World Glaucoma Patient Association and has had a highly successful run for the past 10 years.
The goal of the week celebration which started on March 6 and ends on March 12 2022 is to alert everyone to have regular eye (and optic nerve) checks in order to detect glaucoma as early as possible.
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Source: Rosemond Asmah/ATLFMNEWS
