World Sight Day: Good Vision does not Guarantee Good Eye Health

If you can see clearly, you probably believe that your eyes are healthy. This may be true, but to maintain good eye health it is recommended to have regular, comprehensive eye exams. This exam is recommended for everyone – including children and people with perfect vision.

Many eye and vision problems have no obvious signs or symptoms, therefore people are often unaware of the problem.

In observance of World Sight Day, the Cape Society of Ophthalmic Nurses will be hosting a hands-on workshop at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital on 9 October 2014.

The workshop will include the following topics:

• History taking and recording
• Visual acuity testing and recording
• Examination of the external structures of the eye, pupillary reflex, red reflex, eclipse sign and recording.
• Testing for gross visual field testing and recording, testing for squints: gross morility testing, corneal light reflex and recording.
• Fundoscopy – examination of the retina.

World Sight Day is celebrated annually on the second Thursday of October. Serious eye conditions can be treated with success if they are identified and treated in the early stages. Early intervention can often prevent permanent blindness.

Additional notes:
WHO Global facts:

• Globally, approximately 284 million people are visually impaired – 39 million are blind and 245 million have low vision.
• 80% of all visual impairment is preventable, treatable or curable.
• Approximately 90% of the world’s visually impaired people live in low income countries.
• Refractive errors, cataracts and glaucoma are leading causes of visual impairment.
• Cataracts, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration are top causes of blindness.
• Approximately 19 million children are visually impaired. Of these, 12 million children are visually impaired due to refractive errors, a type of focusing problem that can be easily diagnosed and corrected.