Janet Ogundepo Glaucoma, often referred to as the ‘sneak thief of sight’, and retinal disease, are the leading causes of irreversible blindness in Nigeria, eye doctors have said. They further noted that clinically, cases of refractive errors, such as myopia, hypermetropia and astigmatism were also prominent eye problems in the country. In separate interviews with PUNCH Healthwise, the ophthalmologists emphasised the need for early detection to prevent or delay the onset of blindness.
According to the National Eye Institute, glaucoma is an eye disease that damages the optic nerve leading to vision loss and blindness. A glaucoma advocacy blog, Gluacomapatients , notes that about 79.6 million people had glaucoma in 2020 and this number will likely increase to 111.
8 million people in 2040. According to data from the Nigeria National Blindness and Visual Impairment Survey, 2015, about 4 per cent of adults aged 40 and above have glaucoma. It further noted that 1.
4 million Nigerian adults have glaucoma and it is responsible for 17 per cent of blind cases. The Glaucoma Research Foundation notes that although older people have a high risk of glaucoma, babies can also be born with glaucoma. A retinal disease called retinopathies is another leading cause of preventable blindness.
Retinopathy, which could be diabetic and hypertensive retinopathy, is the leading cause of preventable blindness. The American Academy of Ophthalmology notes that diabetic retinopathy is when the blood vess.
