World Sight Day 2018: WHO Warns About The Importance Of Asymptomatic Pathologies That Affect The Visual Health

World Sight Day 2018: WHO Warns About The Importance Of Asymptomatic Pathologies That Affect The Visual Health
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It is common to think that seeing well is synonymous with having healthy eyes. However, there are asymptomatic pathologies that can affect visual health more than is believed. Dr. Pablo Wainberg, ophthalmologist, Head of Ophthalmology Service, at Swiss Medical Center, says that in the world, 285 million people have some type of visual disability. That’s why the World Health Organization established World Sight Day on the second Thursday of every year. It is essential to raise awareness about the importance of vision screening, even in those people who do not have symptoms. According to Dr. Wainberg, approximately 80% of cases of visual impairment could be prevented.

In the case of vision, the patient may believe that seeing well is synonymous with being completely healthy, but some pathologies do not present symptoms and can lead to the development of irreversible eyes illnesses, both in children and adults.

The most frequent case in children occurs when they develop amblyopia, a condition in which the brain favors the development and stimulation of the nerve pathways of the healthy eye. In the case of adults, an example of these pathologies is elevated ocular pressure, which often develops after the age of 40.

World Sight Day 2018: We should Keep Visual Health

When perceiving a decrease in vision, it is essential to go to an ophthalmologist and check yourself for:

  • Non-operating cataracts
  • Refractive errors (myopia, hypermetropia or astigmatism)
  • Diabetes

In the case of adults over 50, the primary cause of visual disability is cataracts, whose treatment consists of an ambulatory operation, with local anesthesia, which lasts 15 minutes. Worldwide, it is the most frequent surgical procedure.

The complete eye examination for both adults and children is a simple procedure that consists of an eye examination, measurement of eye pressure, visual acuity testing, and on.

The “Vision 2020: The Right to See” campaign created by WHO and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness seeks to raise public awareness of the importance of prevention and treatment and to eliminate avoidable or curable blindness by 2020.


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