Global event organised to raise awareness of ‘silent blinding disease’

In an effort to combat one of the main causes of blindness around the globe, the World Glaucoma Association and the World Glaucoma Patient Association have announced the first annual World Glaucoma Day, to be observed on 6 March, 2008.

The day will be marked by awareness and screening events organised by glaucoma institutions and local patient support groups worldwide.

Glaucoma is the leading cause of preventable blindness in developed countries.

With ageing of the population, it is estimated that by 2020 over 80 million people worldwide will have glaucoma, with more than 11 million of them bilaterally blind (up from 4.5 million today).

Nicknamed “the sneak thief of sight”, untreated glaucoma causes gradual loss of vision as it destroys the cells that connect the eye through the optic nerve to the brain.

As the optic nerve becomes increasingly damaged, permanent vision loss and even blindness can follow.

Early detection by eye-care professionals when the disease is still
asymptomatic to the patient is the key to halting the disease; currently in developed countries, more than half of glaucoma sufferers do not know they have the disease, this percentage rising to 90% in developing nations.

“Visual disability from glaucoma should be avoidable. In contrast with other common blinding diseases, glaucoma blindness is not the result of effective therapies, but mainly to a low awareness of the disease, its risk factors and the need to have regular eye checks ” said Ivan Goldberg, co-chair of the World Glaucoma Association – World Glaucoma Patient Association Physician Liaison Committee.

“Awareness campaigns for early detection of breast and cervical cancer have significantly reduced mortality from these diseases; similarly, increased understanding of glaucoma and the need for regular eye checks to allow early detection are keys to prevent irreversible visual loss.”