The HEALTH Xtra | OCTOBER, 2019
Xtra
06
WORLD SIGHT DAY 2019
Vision
comes
fi rst
Th is year’s World Sight
Day aims to spread further
awareness and reinforce
knowledge for eye health
among Malaysians
E
VERY year, the world takes a day
to focus on vision impairment and
blindness. This happens because
vision loss is a prevalent condition
that aff ects the global population,
regardless of age, ethnicity, and geo-
graphic location. For almost 10 years, Malaysia
has been active in promoting better eye health to
Malaysians, and the eff ort continues this year.
Th e national-level World Sight Day celebra-
tion this year falls on the residents of Putrajaya.
Th ere will be various activities open to the
public to enjoy, including free eye screening,
eye health talk, healthy cooking demonstration,
posters, quizzes, and a photo competition win-
ners announcement.
Th e Health had the chance to meet up with
four representatives from Hospital Putrajaya
to speak more on the continuous eff ort for our
better eye health.
Worrying numbers
Dr Hafiza Izyani Yaacob, Ophthalmologist
from Hospital Putrajaya had this to say: “We
have recently organised a massive outreach
programme in Segamat, Johor in the eff ort
to gauge the prevalence on vision impairment
among Malaysians. Th e Segamat Eye Study (as
the programme was dubbed) found that one in
10 children in the area has refractive errors.”
Refractive error means that the shape of
your eye does not bend light correctly, resulting
in a blurred image. Th e main types of refractive
it more accessible and friendly to visitors,” said
Mohd Naim, Medical Assistant.
EYEING EYE
CONDITIONS:
(From left) Dr Hafi za,
Dr Suriana, Syarifah
Faiza, and Mohd Naim;
working together to
make World Sight Day
2019 a success.
errors are myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia
(farsightedness), presbyopia (loss of near vision
with age), and astigmatism.
“Another study was made at a national level
in 2014, named the National Eye Survey, also
detected around one to two per cent of the
overall Malaysian population to have low vision
or vision impairment.”
Continuing to
uplift the awareness
Dr Suriana Suaibun, Head of the Opthalmology
Department said: “Th e awareness among the
Malaysian public on eye health is still at a level
needed to be improved. We tend to either not
care enough or procrastinate in going for regu-
lar eye checkup. Both are results of not having
enough awareness on our eye health in general.”
“The World Sight Day, as created by the
World Health Organisation, is meant to create
the desired awareness among the public. Malay-
sia has been active in promoting World Sight
Day and the activities that it off ers for more
than 10 years.”
Also was there in our meet-up was Syarifah
Faiza Syed Mohd Dardin, Optometrist from
Hospital Putrajaya. She told: Th e World Sight
Day event is co-chaired by different public
hospitals every year. Last year the celebration
was done in Johor with similar activities. Th e
Ministry of Health does this so that the promo-
tion for better eye health is not concentrated in
only one place every year.”
Th e celebration this year will be done in
Dewan Seri Melati, Precinct 3, Putrajaya.
“Th e event is held away from the hospital to
prevent unwanted congestion, and also to make
The people at risk
All three eye care professionals agreed that the
activities - specifi cally the free eye screening - is
to help detect individuals who might not even
know they have an eye condition.
“We hope to screen our diabetes and hyper-
tension patients for their eye health. Diabetics
will have an increased risk of diabetic retinopa-
thy, but they might not have even realised their
compromised vision. Th erefore it would be
highly benefi cial if we can detect the condition
as early as possible,” said Syarifah.
Dr Hafiza weighed in: “Of the various
common eye conditions among Malaysians,
cataract is number one. However, cataract
is what we would categorise as a reversible
vision loss. Which means through surgery, the
cataract layer can be removed and the patient
will have their vision back. Th e conditions that
can lead to permanent loss of sight is the more
worrying issue we need to detect earlier. We
hope to do so through this event.”
The previously mentioned Segamat Eye
Study also took notice the blight of vision
impairment among children. To this, Dr Suri-
ana advised the parents to be more aware of
their childrens’ behaviour.
“Children don’t usually know how to express
their impaired vision, choosing instead to show
behavioural symptoms such as squinting, lean-
ing too close to screens, and lack of socialising
among their peers.”
Aim to treat and teach
Th is year’s World Sight Day will be offi ciated by
our Deputy Prime Minister Dato Seri Dr Wan
Azizah binti Wan Ismail, and are targetted to
receive around 1,000 attendees.
Syarifah exclaimed: “Our main target
audience is the government servants and
their families living in and around Putrajaya.
We hope to detect eye conditions that may be
hidden among them as well as educating them
on the various eye diseases.”
Dr Suhaina added: “We want the public
to not just know if they have any type of eye
condition, we also want them to know the types
of eye conditions so that they can spread the
knowledge to their friends and fam ily. I believe
that is the most eff ective way to spread the
awareness.” — Th e Health Xtra