By Prossy Nandudu
People suffering from Diabetes are at a high risk of getting blind. This is according to Dr.Stanley Bubikire, the national eye coordinator, ministry of health.
He said that diabetic patients develop a condition known as diabetic retinopathy which affects the eyes.
“In this condition, excessive sugar is deposited on the blood vessels of the retina, causing pressure which develops into plugs that burst with time, causing blurring which eventually leads to blindness,” explains Dr.Bubikire.
He added that the condition was becoming a threat next to cataract, which is the major burden for blindness plus trachoma, childhood blindness, grachoma (increased pressure in the eye) among others.
He blames the increase in these eye conditions to lack of awareness creation by policy makers, patients, parents among other stakeholders.
“From scientific social research done, lack of awareness right from policy makers and the people affected has compounded the problem,” said Bubikire.
Bubikire added that some people shun medical centers for fear of surgery “Some people say that if am partially blind due to cataract, I cannot go for surgery because I will become completely blind”.
Others fear putting on spectacles because they say they will lose the residual sight. All these are myth and misconceptions”.
This was at a signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding between Standard Charted bank and Sight Savers International, in which the bank will provide sh135 million for free treatment and surgery of eye related diseases for 9 months.
Dr Johnson Ngorok, country director sight savers international hailed standard chartered bank for the smooth partnership over the past 8 years and pledged the organisation’s continued support towards the fight against preventable blindness in Uganda.
The understanding will see close to 1000 people undergoing free surgery to restore their sight, while some will be treated upon various eye conditions. “The ‘Seeing is Believing’ campaign is against preventable blindness that Standard Chartered Bank has run since 2003” said Lamin Majang, the bank's managing director.
Bubikire, the national eye coordinator in the ministry advised that eating a meal rich in fruits and vegetables, plus regular visits to eye specialists could reduce the infection rate from the current 300,000.
“As Government, we value the public-private sector approach to service delivery for it is the only way we can reach out to as many people as possible considering that resources from Government are limited.” Dr. Bubikire said.
It’s estimated that 300,000 people are blind in Uganda, thus the need to reverse the trend.