OCTOBER, 2019 | The HEALTH
EYE HEALTH
Eye health is wealth
It’s time to make clear vision and healthy eyes a priority
C
LEAR vision isn’t a birthright; it’s
a privilege and so is the ability to
correct poor sight.
With more than 20 years
of experience in the optical
industry, Associate Professor Dr.
Mohd Zaki Awang Isa has seen his fair share
of eye troubles. He helms the Department
of Optometry and Vision Science, Faculty of
Health and Life Sciences of Management and
Science University (MSU).
Myopic epidemic
“Th e major phenomenon, which is being felt
across Malaysia and the world, is myopia.
Th e major problem with myopia is with the
advancement of technology, people are spend-
ing more time on their devices and we are
constantly staring at our computer screens
at work,” said Dr Mohd Zaki.
“Th ere are many people who suff er from
blindness due to uncorrected refractive error
or undetected eye and vision problems.”
If you’re someone who doesn’t need glasses
or contacts, you probably think you don’t
need to get your eyes checked this year (or
ever). But regular eye exams can check for
more than just your ability to read the letter
‘W’ from very far away.
“People are not really aware what a proper
eye examination means. When they discover
their vision is failing, they immediately think
it’s due to eye power issues.
“When they get their eye power checked,
the focus is most often placed on how to
make their vision clear again but the other
facts on the health of the eye is not checked
thoroughly.”
How a simple eye
test can save your life
Dr Zaki explains how most of us quickly
come to conclusion that we require glasses
or contact lens only when we have diffi culty
in seeing.
“But when you get headaches and face the
occasional issue of having trouble in focusing,
an eye examination is not the fi rst choice.”
Why is an annual eye checkup so
important?
“Regular eye checkups provide us with early
information and possible diagnosis of eye and
vision problems. Furthermore, through the
eyes, we can also detect other medical prob-
lems. Early signs of diabetes, cardiovascular
disease, cholesterol, all these can be predicted
with an eyecheckup.
“However, the main issue at hand is that we
are not aware of the importance of a proper
eye examination. Th e issue lies in factors such
Dr Mohd Zaki Awg Isa explains that an annual eye checkup is
important as it also helps detects medical problems.
19
Save sights,
see futures
OCTOBER 10 is World Sight Day,
an annual day of awareness to focus
global attention on blindness and vision
impairment.
This year’s call to action is “eye care
for all”. Associate Professor Dr. Mohd
Zaki Awang Isa, Head of Department of
Optometry and Vision Science, Faculty of
Health and Life Sciences of Management
and Science University (MSU) dishes out
on what exciting events lie ahead for World
Sight Day.
“Here in MSU, we
organise World Sight
Day activities yearly.
Apart from our long-
term prevention
of blindness
awareness project
covering aspects
such as eye
health promotion,
comprehensive vision
screening and we will also
be donating visual aids to the
needy.
“This year we have also been invited
to be part of the national World Sight
Day programme organised by Hospital
Putrajaya,” said Dr Mohd Awang.
According to Dr Zaki, the department
is also working together with the
Association of Malaysian Optometrists
(AMO), non-governmental organisations
(NGOs), industries and corporations with
the objective of promoting eye health
awareness to the public.
“For activities in MSU, we will be inviting
a few schools as well as the community
around Shah Alam to get their eyes
checked by our optometry students. We
have also engaged with MSU Medical
Centre (MSUMC) to be part of our eye
health programme.”
“Our theme this year is ‘Save sights,
See futures’. We will be focusing on how
to promote awareness and simultaneously
build a campaign on how to prevent
eye diseases at three levels - primary,
secondary and tertiary.
“The primary level is before the disease
occurs, secondary is when you have
an eye disease and vision problems but
it has not progressed to a dangerous
level, and tertiary is our attempts at
preventing immobility due to vision loss or
impairment.”
as we do not have access to comprehensive
eye examinations and that in Malaysia, the
promotion related to eye healthcare is not as
widespread as the anti-smoking campaigns.”
— Th e Health