An eye specialist, Dr Ibrahim Yusuf Bakale, said Glaucoma was the leading cause of irreversible blindness, affecting most visually impaired patients, explaining that routine checks and early detection can save the eyes from the eye silent killer called glaucoma.
Accordingly, Bakale of the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto, “8 out of every 100 aged 40 and above have glaucoma.”
Dr Bakale, during a health talk at a free eye clinic screening exercise conducted for journalists by the NUJ Sokoto State Council in collaboration with UDUTH to commemorate the World Glaucoma Day, noted that, “one needs to embrace the practice of routine check to enable early detection of his or her eyes health status.”
“Research had shown that the statistics were mostly driven by negligence and ignorance on the silent eye killer disease, failure to present selves for routine checks, wrong or use of unrecommended medication among other factors were responsible for glaucoma.
“Only early detection and routine checks can save individual’s vision,” he pointed out while enumerating among other diseases that were associated with or give rise to glaucoma as diabetes and hypertension.
Dr Bakale regretted that 50% of patients only presented themselves after an eye had already gone blind while 90% were not aware they had glaucoma, and 20% had two of the eyes totally blind.
Earlier, the Chairman of NUJ Sokoto State Council, Usman Muhamed Binji, said the collaboration was to further promote better working synergy and provide members of the union avenue to check their eye health status and guarantee their fitness and wellness as their sight was a vital, sensitive and instrumental organ that drives the profession.
“Let me make a passionate appeal to the team of doctors and their support staff to make the exercise a regular event and not only on an annual basis,” Binji stressed. No fewer than 60 working journalists accessed the clinic and were provided glasses in addition to referrals.
