Love your eyes

Vision plays a critical role in every stage of our lives. The newborn depends on vision to bond with its mother; the toddler uses vision to learn to walk and run; the school child uses vision to walk to school, read and learn. Vision enables us to be independent, yet there are many thousands of South Africans who are needlessly visually impaired due to factors like affordability and accessibility.

Impaired Vision: Pandemic Proportions

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) World Report on Vision released in 2019, there are 2.2 billion people worldwide with visual impairment, of which at least 1 billion people have visual challenges that could have been prevented or are yet to be addressed.

Myopia (near-sightedness or difficulty seeing things at distance), hyperopia (far-sightedness or difficulty seeing things close-up) and presbyopia (difficulty reading in individuals who are over 40) are the main causes of reversible/correctable vision impairment. Cataract (cloudiness of the lens), glaucoma (increased pressure inside the eye) and diabetic retinopathy (eye complications due to uncontrolled diabetes) are the leading causes of preventable visual impairment.

The report predicts a dramatic increase in the number of people with eye conditions and visual impairment in the coming years, so let’s look at what we can do to prevent visual impairment:

• Schedule regular eye examinations with your optometrist – at least every 24 months – to ensure early diagnosis and treatment or management of visual conditions.
• Eat a healthy diet focusing on green, yellow and orange vegetables and a good serving of fruits such as strawberries, oranges and mangoes. Fish such as tuna and sardines provide omega 3’s that are essential for healthy eyes.
• Wear sunglasses with 100% ultraviolet (UV) protection when outdoors to prevent sun damage to the eyes.
• Stop smoking. Cyanide from smoking damages eye cells and increases the risk of developing cataract, dry eyes and macular degeneration: an incurable eye condition that affects the ability to see.
• Control chronic conditions. People with diabetes and high blood pressure need to be vigilant about having regular check-ups and complying with their treatment regime to avoid eye complications.

Irreversible Visual Impairment

What about people with ‘uncorrectable’ or irreversible visual impairment?

• Regular eye examinations performed by optometrists can help to prevent further deterioration in some eye conditions.
• Visual rehabilitation can be performed to help the patient adapt to their conditions.

Love Your Eyes

Almost everyone on earth will experience an eye health issue in their lifetime and, sadly, more than a billion of those do not have access to eye care. To address the bigger picture at a country and global level, we need to be aware of our own eye health, and so Eye Care Awareness Month is commemorated from 21 September to 18 October this year, with World Sight Day falling on 13 October 2022.

The campaign being driven by the South African Optometric Association (SAOA) is underpinned by the theme, ‘Love Your Eyes’, which considers the challenges encountered by the many thousands of South Africans who are needlessly visually compromised simply because of a lack of access to the appropriate eye care.

The SAOA works tirelessly to ensure a world where access to good quality eye care is readily available, preventable vision loss is prioritised, and where barriers that prevent the full participation of people with permanent visual impairment are removed. We call on YOU to #LoveYourEyes and be aware of your own eye health and those you love because, if we are all aware of the importance of early identification of eye conditions, we can work together to reduce visual impairment in our society.

The SAOA is the Professional Association representing Optometrists and Dispending Opticians in South Africa. For further information, members of the public can visit the SAOA website on https://www.saoa.co.za/about#nutshell

This post and content is sponsored, written and provided by SAOP (South Africa Optomatric Association).