12th October is celebrated as World Sight Day

 

The aim to write this post is to draw your attention on the importance of eye care. Do you know about World Sight Day that is celebrated every year? This is a day that is designated to raise the public's awareness about the challenges that people with vision impairment or loss deal with on daily basis. Also it is a significant day to honor ophthalmologists as well. They are the medical professionals who diagnose and treat human eye and vision problems and work tirelessly around the globe to combat the issue.

World Scenario of Vision Impairment or Loss

Approximately 285 million people are visually impaired all over the world, 90 percent of whom are from developing countries. In the U.S., approximately 12 million people aged 40 and older have a vision impairment.

In Germany, approximately 80,000 to half a million people are blind, and approximately one million people are visually impaired.

There are over 2 million people in the UK living with sight loss. According to a report in 2004, 480,300 Australians were estimated to have low vision, including 50,600 with blindness.

Visual impairment was common in the Chinese elderly population. 8.7 million people are living with blindness in China, 4.7 million with severe vision loss, and 46 million with moderate vision loss according to a 2019 survey.

The burden of blindness in Indonesia is high, and untreated cataract contributes the most. According to a survey report, there were 6.4 million people with visual impairment in Indonesia. About 1.3 million people were legally blind, and 4.1 million people were moderate to severe visually impaired.

India is home to a third of the world's blind population. Over sixty million people in India are blind. The country has around 12 million individuals with visual impairment according to a report published by the National Programme for Control of Blindness (NPCB).

Its 'Long-lasting Effects

Vision impairment and blindness can have major and long-lasting effects on all aspects of life, including daily personal activities, interacting with the community, school and work opportunities, and the ability to access public services. Eye health impacts education, employment, quality of life, poverty, and many other SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals)

Causes of Sight Loss

In some cases, vision loss happens as a result of the natural aging process, or you may be born with vision impairment due to genetic mutations. However, the seven main causes of sight loss are narrated below:

• Age-related macular degeneration. Age-related macular degeneration generally happens in older people.
• Glaucoma. Glaucoma mainly occurs when the fluid in the eye builds up pressure
• Diabetic Retinopathy.
• Cataract
• Trachoma 
• Corneal opacity
• Uncorrected Refractive Errors

Traditionally, corneal clouding, scarring, or damage has been considered the leading cause of childhood blindness in India. The second reason is the deficiency of Vitamin A in children, due to its deficiency the eyesight decreases. If the level of this deficiency is too high, it can even lead to permanent blindness.

In our country, every year 30 thousand children go blind due to vitamin A deficiency. Symptoms of vitamin A deficiency are more common in children between the ages of 1-5 years. It is often found among children due to poor nutrition. Due to a deficiency of vitamin A, a disease called keratomalacia (Melting of the cornea) is found in children, and in this, the child loses sight of his eyes forever.

Reason for Congenital Blindness 

The condition of congenital blindness is very rare. It refers to poor vision that you are born with. Causes include inherited eye and retina conditions and non-inherited birth defects.

Prevention Strategies

The World Health Organization estimates that about half of the cases of vision impairment around the world could be prevented with proper treatment or prevention strategies. However, you can't prevent every form of blindness. There's no cure for blindness currently. However, treatments can help restore some vision loss for certain people, depending on the cause and progression of their vision loss.

However, there are ways to protect your vision. You can protect your eye health by doing things like:

• Quit smoking, if you smoke.
• Having regular eye examinations performed.
• Keeping your blood sugar levels within a healthy range.
• Eating a balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables.
• Using protective eyewear.
• Protecting your eyes from ultraviolet radiation and sunlight.
• Knowing your family history of eye conditions or vision loss.

But, the good thing is that the number of people becoming visually impaired due to infectious diseases has reduced significantly in the last 20 years. This achievement is also no less for us. This includes the hard work of doctors, research work prevention strategies, etc. Despite that, work is going on in many countries on how a blind person can see.

New Innovation: A Wave of Happiness among Blinds

In this sequence, good news has been received from Israel that even a blind person can think of seeing and reading. Recently, an innovation has been done in Israel by a company OrCam by developing an artificial intelligence device that gives autonomy to people who are blind, visually impaired, or have difficulty in reading.

Undoubtedly, it is a praise-worthy news and it has also brought a wave of happiness in the lives of millions of blind people across the world. This pioneering technology in the form of a small portable device has revolutionized the daily lives of thousands of users around the world. With the help of this device, any blind person will be able to "read" newspapers, restaurant menus, or books. More than 4 lakh people in the world are taking advantage of it. This device to assist such people is the first in the market — and far more inexpensive than alternative technologies being developed.

Besides, the Argus II, made by US-based Company Second Sight Medical Products, is also working and currently, this device is under the process of testing. The FDA has approved the Argus II as a humanitarian device. The developers of the Argus II are also working on the more powerful Argus III, due out next year.

I believe that such innovations are nothings less than priceless gifts for the humanity. The goodness of science reduces the sufferings of many. The devices help people with visual impairment to read the morning Paper, books, text messages, emails, and more. It is a wearable, voice-activated visual impairment solution and the whole device is now only about the size of a finger.

Take care of your eyes, exercise and guide others who may have eye related issues.