BASED on population-based studies, at least 13,000 people in the sultanate have some form of glaucoma and at least 6,000 are unaware of their ailment, the Minister of Health said yesterday.

Launching Brunei’s World Glaucoma Day 2010 at the Ministry of Health building, Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Haji Suyoi said glaucoma is the second cause of blindness next to cataract. It is estimated that 60.5 million people worldwide will have glaucoma by 2010, of whom 4.5 million persons are blind due to glaucoma and this number will increase to 11.2 million by 2020.

Glaucoma is a group of conditions which can seriously affect the vision by compromising the function of the optic nerve, the nerve that relays the visual messages from the eye to the brain enabling us to see. It is considered as the ‘silent thief of sight’.

The minister said that the reality is 50 per cent of people are unaware that they have glaucoma and 10 per cent are blind in at least in one eye at the time of diagnosis.

In most cases, glaucoma has no symptoms, which means that up to 40 per cent of vision could be lost before it is noticed. Regular eye examinations, at least every two years, are essential in order to avoid any unnecessary sight loss.

While anyone can develop glaucoma, some people are at higher risks, including people above 40 years old, those with a family history of glaucoma, diabetes and short sightedness. These people need routine evaluation to detect the disease at an early stage. Managing the disease at a late stage poses an extra burden on health care and the society at large.

The World Glaucoma Association and World Glaucoma Patients Association aim to improve glaucoma care globally with uniform international criteria. Brunei joined the world partnership last year by celebrating the ‘World Glaucoma Day and launching the Glaucoma sub-speciality at RIPAS Hospital.

GlaucomaAwareness Week from March 7-13, 2010 will help to increase awareness and importance screening of glaucoma. It will include “The World Glaucoma Day” on March 12.

The activities include screening of government staff at their workplace where yesterday, the staff at the Ministry of Health were screened for glaucoma. This screening will be made available to other government offices in the future.

Public screening will be done at RIPAS Hospital and district hospitals this week.

Today (March 9) will witness the launch of glaucoma public screening at RIPAS Hospital and Muara eye clinic.
On Wednesday, glaucoma screening will be held at RIPAS, Sg Hanching eye clinic and Suri Seri Begawan in Belait.

Sg Asam eye clinic in Kg Ayer will join the public glaucoma screening campaign on March 11, while a mobile ophthalmic unit will target shoppers at The Mall on March 12.

Free glaucoma screening’ will be available at The Mall from 9-12 noon and 2-4pm.
On March 13, glaucoma public screening and public group discussions will be held in RIPAS Hospital and Temburong Hospital. The glaucoma database will be used to identify and screen high-risks persons. Discussion groups will be arranged for glaucoma patients and their families to increase their awareness of the disease and to answer their queries.
The minister also launched mobile eye clinic that delivers the essential eye care to the public at the primary level. This will also help to tackle two major causes of blindness, diabetic eye disease and glaucoma.
With these efforts, it is hoped that the country will be a step closer to eliminating preventable blindness, the objective of vision 2020.
The mobile eye clinic was made possible by the contributions of GHK Motors Sdn Bhd, Jake Goh, Mr Lim Fung, Mr Sim Yen Ming, Mr Chong Vui Jin, Mr Alvin Wong, Mr William Chong, Mr Joseph Chin, Mr Chin Fen Khoon, Mr Leong Weng Shin, Mr Shawn Narcis and Mr Daryl Narcis.

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