Mulago overwhelmed with patients with eye conditions
Oct 17, 2017
Cataracts are a clouding that develops on the crystalline lens of the eye. As a cataract strengthens, vision quality is compromised.
HEALTH | EYECARE
Mulago National Referral hospital is overwhelmed with the number of patients with eye conditions.
Dr Grace Ssali, a consultant ophthalmologist at the hospital, said most of the patients are suffering from cataracts aged 60 and above.
Ssali said they operate on 50 cases, on a daily basis. She appealed to the public to go for eye check-ups at least once a year in order to avoid eye conditions which may lead to blindness.
Cataracts are a clouding that develops on the crystalline lens of the eye. As a cataract strengthens, vision quality is compromised. The person will lose sensitivity to colour contrast, causing contours, shadows, and colours in general to become less vivid.
Health minister Dr Ruth Aceng recently said 57.1% of blindness is caused by cataracts, while uncorrected refractive errors are the commonest cause of visual impairment.
Surveys show that the prevalence of blindness in Uganda is 0.4%. Uganda joins the rest of the world today to commemorate World Sight day.