BENIN CITY - Today , Friday, March 12, 2010, marks the third-annual World Glaucoma Day (WGD) , a global initiative to raise awareness of glaucoma, the second loading cause of blindness worldwide.
According to a statement signed by the Edo State Co-ordinator, National Programme for the Prevention of Blindness (NPPB), Dr. Caroline Bakare, said Glaucoma currently affects approximately 4 million people in the United States and 65 million people world wide and is responsible for 16 .7 per cent of blindness in Nigeria which is expected to increase as the population ages.
It said it was unfortunate that many people with glaucoma are unaware that they have it until there is a large amount of irreversible vision loss, adding that the World Glaucoma Day is therefore an opportunity to highlight the importance of glaucoma awareness, early detection and treatment options.
To this end, the statement said in an effort to raise awareness of glaucoma in Edo State, the state NPPB will be joining the World Glaucoma Day initiative with jingles/press releases on radio and television, and enlightenment talks on radio and television, Editorials/articles in local newspapers, distribution of fliers or glaucoma as well as Free eye screening in Central Hospital, Benin City on that same day.
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