HMC staff screen a visitor at the glaucoma booth.
Doha: Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Ophthalmology Department is spreading awareness about the importance of prevention and early detection of glaucoma in observance of World Glaucoma Week.
The week is being observed with the awareness campaign led by the department’s glaucoma team until March 20, with a screening booth set up for the public at Hamad General Hospital’s Outpatient Department lobby.
The booth proved popular last year, with dozens of people lining up to benefit from free check-ups as well as educational materials on the disease.
Glaucoma is a common eye complaint and the second leading cause of blindness in adults worldwide. It is a group of diseases that lead to progressive damage of the optic nerve, the part of the eye that carries visual information from the retina to the brain. The progressive damage can result in gradual, irreversible loss of vision and blindness if left untreated.
Glaucoma affects more than 67 million people worldwide.
“Half of people with glaucoma are unaware of their condition and could be slowly losing their sight because their glaucoma has not been diagnosed or treated.
“Prevention is the best way to fight glaucoma, and early detection through screening and careful life-long treatment are important to maintain vision in people with glaucoma,” HMC’s Ophthalmology Section specialist Dr Zakia Mohamed Al Ansari said.
“Elevated eye pressure is often present in glaucoma and considered a risk factor; however, in rare cases even patients with a normal range of eye pressure can develop the disease. The exact cause of glaucoma is unknown,” she added.
She urged yearly testing for people at high risk, including those of African descent, people with diabetes, those with a family history of glaucoma, those above 30 and those who had an eye injury or trauma.
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