Every eighth individual in India suffers from glaucoma, say PGIMER doctors

Every eighth individual of the nearly 40 million people in our country either has glaucoma, or is at the risk of developing the disease, doctors from Post Graduate Institute of Medical College and Research (PGIMER) said on Thursday

Every eighth individual of the nearly 40 million people in our country either has glaucoma, or is at the risk of developing the disease, doctors from Post Graduate Institute of Medical College and Research (PGIMER) said on Thursday.

The Advanced Eye Centre of PGIMER has planned multiple activities to observe World Glaucoma Week from March 6 to 12 with the aim to bring public focus on the disease, which is considered the leading cause of irreversible blindness in India. (HT File)

The Advanced Eye Centre of PGIMER has planned multiple activities to observe World Glaucoma Week from March 6 to 12 with the aim to bring public focus on the disease, which is considered the leading cause of irreversible blindness in India.

Detailing the upcoming awareness activities, Dr Surinder S Pandav, head of the department of ophthalmology, PGIMER, said, “We have invited many health professionals, people from various organisations and patients from the tricity. Apart from that, we are also focusing disease awareness for patients and caretakers, through various electronic mediums.”

The main highlight of the event is the Glaucoma Awareness Walk, which will be organised at 8am on March 6 from Rock Garden to Sukhna Lake.

Dr. Pandav further elaborated, “Glaucoma is an entity associated with many risk factors, of which the modifiable factor is an increase in eye pressure, and is characterised by damage to the optic nerve leading to irreversible blindness. Most often glaucoma causes silent vision loss as the patient will not be symptomatic till the moderate to an advanced stage.” Early recognition and treatment are most important to prevent the progression of glaucoma. The disease more commonly affects people beyond the age of 40.

Around 11.2 million Indians suffer from the disease and 1.1 million have gone blind, including children. Screening family members of patients with glaucoma is mandatory, as this disease can affect siblings and children of patients with glaucoma in up to 10-15% of cases.

Sharing the impact of these awareness initiatives, Dr Pandav stated, “We found that these academic activities help in early diagnosis and timely referral to a higher centre at the initial stage of the disease itself. This is evident from our own exponentially increasing number of patients for the last five years. Our team is also providing state-of-the-art training for many postgraduates and fellows from various sectors of our nation and making them capable of providing services in their respective areas.We also conduct a patient education program every year in the Advanced Eye Centre. It helps patients get knowledge about the disease, need for regular follow-up, and adherence to treatment along with video demonstration of how to take medication efficiently”