The HEALTH | NOVEMBER, 2019
10
HIGHLIGHT
What is
World
Sight
Day?
From left: Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefl y bin Ahmad, Minister of Health, Dato Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Deputy
Prime Minister, Dr Nor Fariza Ngah, Head of Ophthalmology Services and Dato Mohd Shafi q Bin Abdullah, Deputy
Secretary General are all in smiles launching World Sight Day 2019.
WORLD SIGHT DAY is an annual
celebration of awareness to f ocus
global attention on blindness and
vision impairment, held on the
second Thursday of October each
year.
Established by the World Health
Organization (WHO) in 2000, World
Sight Day is the main advocacy
event for raising awareness about
blindness and vision impairment
for VISION 2020: The Right to Sight,
a global initiative created by WHO
and the International Agency for the
Prevention of Blindness (IAPB).
Vision among Malaysians
Th is year’s World Sight Day
national-level celebration
focuses on cataract, the
leading cause of blindness
among Malaysians
O
N Oct 10, Deputy Prime Minister
of Malaysia Dato Seri Dr Wan
Azizah Wan Ismail, and Datuk Seri
Dr Dzulkefl y Ahmad, Minister of
Health attended the World Sight
Day 2019 celebration at Dewan
Seri Melati in Putrajaya.
Also present were Dato Mohd Shafi q Abdul-
lah, Deputy Secretary General (Management),
Dr. Hj Rohaizat bin Hj Yon, Deputy Director
General of Health (Medical) and Dr Nor Fariza
Ngah, Head of Ophthalmology Services.
Wan Azizah, who is also an ophthalmolo-
gist, said the awareness among the public to
seek appropriate treatment in case of vision
problems should be instilled.
“Th e negative stigma about eye surgery
needs to be addressed so that patients can
get proper treatment as soon as possible to
prevent further deterioration of the sight due
to fear of surgery,” she says.
She also states the leading causes of blind-
ness among Malaysians were found to be
cataract, at 58 per cent, diabetic retinopathy
at 10 per cent and glaucoma at seven per cent.
Dr Wan Azizah, who is also the women,
family, and community development minis-
ter, said Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and
the Ministry of Health will conduct research
on increased myopia among Malaysian chil-
dren next year.
“Th e study is aimed to fi nd out whether
or not there is a diff erence in refractive error
among children from indoor and outdoor
activities,” she said, explaining that indoor
Wan Azizah hopes
that the public will be
more aware on the
importance of seeking
treatment for vision
issues.
activities referred to playing with gadgets
while outdoor activities involved physical or
sporting activities.
The World Vision Day Celebration was
organised by the Department of Ophthalmol-
ogists, the Vision Hospital in collaboration
with the College of Ophthalmologists and the
Malaysia Society of Ophthalmologists.
Th e programme aims to raise awareness
among the public about the importance of
vision and eye health care. Th e programme
also focuses on important issues related to eye
diseases, prevention and treatment methods,
especially high-risk cases such as diabetic
patients and if they have a family history of
glaucoma.
Th e program was also fi lled with a variety of
interesting activities provided to the visitors.
Among them was health talk by ophthal-
mologist and motivational speaker, Professor
Datuk Dr Muhaya Haji Mohamad. Th ere were
also many other interesting activities such as
healthy cooking demonstrations and a talk
explaining the correct way of handling contact
lenses.
In addition, the event was aimed at pro-
moting eye care and vision rehabilitation to a
wide range of people through live information
activities and providing free eye care and
consultation services. — Th e Health