Folalumi Alaran
Randle General Hospital, Surulere has joined the global celebration to mark this year’s World Glaucoma Week at the Opthalmology Department of the hospital in Lagos.
With the theme, “Uniting for a Glaucoma free world, everybody has a role to play”, the Y2025 campaign emphasized the need for early detection, through regular eye examinations, towards preventing vision loss.
The Consultant Opthalmologist and Head of Department, Dr. Funmilayo Oguntoye, according to a release issued on Monday by the hospital’s Assistant Director of Public Affairs, Mrs Okunade Olayinka, described Glaucoma as a “silent thief of sight” and a disease that “affects the optic nerve which is at the back of the eye”.
She also described it as “a progressive disease whose end spectrum is blindness”.
According to the Consultant, the disease has no permanent cure, but could only be managed, to slow down its effect on vision, and damage to the optic nerve, which controls vision.
While thanking the hospital’s Medical Director/CEO, Dr Olumide Sojinrin for his full support to the department, especially in terms of providing necessary equipment to work with, Dr Oguntoye, mentioned the risk factors in glaucoma to include; old age, family history, increased pressure in the eye, as well as predisposed causes like hypertension.
On finding out if one has glaucoma, the Consultant said “the danger in the disease, is that it usually gives no sign or complain, it is only when one visits the hospital for an eye check that the realization occurs”.
The Department, however, in the course of the celebration, provided free tests for patients and staff alike, for early detection.
In his words on the disease, Dr Sojinrin implored everyone to make it a point of duty to visit hospitals for check up, towards early detection and prevention of blindness, noting that nobody is happy when sight is lost for whatever reason.
According to him, eyes and vision are very vital to the body and “we all must do everything possible to protect our sight, especially through healthy living, and regular eye checks”.
He, however, promised the hospital’s services for affected people.
Activities like Health talk, experience sharing and Glaucoma screening for patients and members of staff, took center stage at the programme.
