A professor of ophthalmology, Adeola Onakoya, has advised Nigerians, especially those aged 30 and above, to go for regular eye screening to prevent irreversible blindness caused by glaucoma.
Onakoya, Head of Glaucoma Services, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Idi-Araba, Lagos, gave the advice on Tuesday in Ibadan, on the sideline of a seminar titled: “The Burden of Glaucoma Management in Sub-Sharan Africa”.
According to the professor, glaucoma is the most common cause of avoidable and irreversible blindness in Nigeria.
“Glaucoma as a disease is common and quite a number of people, especially those above 40, suffer from glaucoma.
“It is a disease that the cause is not known and neither is a there a cure for it.
“So, what we are doing is to try and reduce the rate of progression to blindness, so that if somebody is aware of glaucoma at a very early stage, through treatment this can be slowed down such that such individual who otherwise could have gove blind would be prevented from going blind,” she said.
Onakoya said risk factors that increase the likelihood of developing glaucoma include being over 40 years, history of eye injury, family history and being African.
“With regards to getting glaucoma, it is something that we cannot prevent, I mean from the risk factor, we can know those who are predisposed to developing the disease.
“If you are an African, advancing in age, so the message is you must get your eyes examined.
“Once you are reaching that age of 30 to 35, ensure that you see specialists, you can see an opthalmologist or an optometrist to examine the eyes.
“They check the intraocular pressure,not just the pressure, but detailed examination of the inside of your eyes is carried out.
“It is important for us not to neglect the care of the eyes, ensure that you get your eyes examined by eye care specialists just as you check your blood pressure, so you can prevent your eyes from blindness that comes from glaucoma,” she said
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Onakoya said that a 2005 to 2007 survey indicated that one in every 20 Nigerians aged 40 years and above has glaucoma.
She said that the high prevalence and high rate of blindness confirm glaucoma to be of public health importance that should be given priority.
