‘7.7 Million people have moderate or severe blindness from glaucoma’

Moreover, he hinted that by the year 2040, it is estimated that there will be 22 million individuals worldwide who are blind from this challenging eye disease.  

Dr. Winston Ceesay was speaking recently at a presser as part of activities marking World Glaucoma Week, which is celebrated from 10th -16th March globally.

The event is celebrated annually to draw attention to the silent thief of sight, while encouraging people to go for early testing. The theme for this year’s event is -‘Uniting for a Glaucoma Free World’.

“Glaucoma is one of the main causes of preventable irreversible blindness worldwide. It is a group of eye disorders that have few symphtoms in their early stages, but eventually lead to damage of the optic nerve, which can lead to vision loss or complete blindness.”

“In 2020, 4.13 million people aged 50 years and older suffered moderate and severe vision impairment and 3.6 million were blind due to glaucoma and it caused 11% of all global blindness in adults aged 50 years and older.”

He revealed that by the year 2040, it is estimated that there will be 22 million individuals worldwide who are blind from glaucoma.

However, Dr. Ceesay reminded that the prevalence of glaucoma varies among different nations and regions, aadding that it appears to be highest among persons of African descent ranging from 6.5% to 7.3%.

“Africa is one of the continents with substantial burden of

glaucoma. The prevalence of glaucoma in Africa is twice that of the global prevalence. People of African descent are 5 times more likely to develop glaucoma and 6 times more likely to go blind from glaucoma. Yet 90% of people of African descent do not know they are living with the disease. In Africa, only 1 in 20 is aware that he/she is living with glaucoma. Often times, 50% of the people have lost vision in one eye at presentation to the clinic. Glaucoma in persons of African descent has an earlier onset and runs an aggressive course as compared to their counterparts in other parts of the world. ”