Robin Muchetu, Health and Gender Editor
PROTECTING your vision does not require major lifestyle changes but simple habits can make a significant difference in your overall eye health and comfort.
Zimbabwe joined the rest of the world last week to commemorate World Sight Day, observed annually on the second Thursday of October.
The day unites the global eye health community in raising awareness of the importance of eye health to the public, decision-makers, and service providers.
Seasonal changes are a great reminder to schedule your comprehensive eye exam. Routine eye exams allow eye care professionals to monitor your vision, detect early signs of glaucoma, cataracts, macular degeneration and other eye diseases and to also provide personalised treatment recommendations.
Tree pollen can circulate as soon as temperatures rise slightly and this is a major cause of concern as this sea-son is upon us.
Here are some challenges that come with tree pollen, coming from trees that are flowering during this season:
·Itchy eyes
·Watery eyes
·Redness
·Swelling around the eyelids
An eye exam helps to determine whether inflammation stems from an allergic response, tear film instability or a combination of both.
When temperatures shift and pollen levels rise, your eyes may experience new or worsening symptoms.
In an effort to keep your eyes healthy this season, it is advisable to wear Ultra Violet-protective sunglasses when spending time outdoors to protect against harmful ultraviolet rays.
Wash your hands frequently and avoid rubbing your eyes to reduce allergen exposure.
Once one visits an optometrist to have their eyes checked several processes may be done.
An optometrist will conduct an internal and external examination of your eyes which is necessary to detect signs of possible disorders, such as cataracts or retinal problems.
Current prescription check
An evaluation of your current eyeglass prescription is performed to determine its suitability for your present lifestyle.
Visual acuity tests
This tests your ability to see sharply and clearly at all distances.
Refraction
This tests your eye’s ability to focus light rays exactly on the retina at a distance and close-up.
Tonometry
This is a computer measurement of your internal eye pressure to test for glaucoma.
Visual co-ordination
This is a test for your eye coordination and muscle control.
Focusing ability
This is a test to measure your eye’s ability to change focus.
People have different visual needs for different times in their day-to-day activities such as when using comput-ers, driving both during the day and at night, when outdoors, playing sport, when reading, even when enter-taining guests. The eyes must be protected accordingly.
Reports say approximately 19 million children worldwide present with visual impairments resulting from eye diseases and physical causes and 1.4 million are estimated to be totally blind.
Visual impairment among children continues to be a growing public health concern globally with low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) being disproportionately affected.
Childhood blindness refers to a group of diseases and conditions which occur during childhood or early adoles-cence, and, if left untreated, may result in blindness or severe visual impairment.
Therefore, visual impairment among children continues to be a growing global public health concern with LMICs being disproportionately affected.
Most LMICs lack effective screening programmes and interventions for children presenting with eye conditions and there is need to expand services to marginalised groups.
Researchers say it is increasingly difficult to estimate the burden of childhood blindness and severe visual impairment in Zimbabwe. This is mainly due to scarce data and heterogeneous data collection methods used.
In Zimbabwe, the causes of blindness according to the Zimbabwe National Eye Health Strategy (2014 to 2018) are congenital cataracts, glaucoma, eye trauma, measles and retinoblastoma.
A study revealed that paediatric eye services are limited in Zimbabwe with most of the cases being attended at the two tertiary level paediatric eye hospitals, Sekuru Kaguvi Eye Hospital and Richard Morris Hospital located in Harare and Bulawayo respectively.
As a result, only the most severe cases end up being given attention and priority while the majority are missed at primary care level which brings to the core of the importance of community screening for visual impair-ment among children in the country.
Two non-governmental organisations, the Christian Blind Mission (since 1974) and Council for the Blind (since 1955) have been supporting Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) in the provision of eye care services at tertiary eye units in the two major cities of Harare and Bulawayo, situated in the northern and southern parts of the country respectively.
— @NyembeziMu
