New reports display shocking results

New reports say 800,000 Ghanaians are visually impaired 2005-12-08

Available statistics at the Ghana Eye Foundation (GEF) indicates that 200,000 Ghanaians are completely blind while 600,000 others are visually impaired from causes, 75 per cent of which were avoidable.

This was contained in a GEF concept paper released at the official launch of GEF and the swearing in ceremony of its Board of Trustees in Accra. The Board includes Director-General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Professor Agyeman Badu Akosa, Chief Executive, Ghana Chamber of Mines, Ms Joyce Rosalind Aryee, and three others.

The Foundation set up by the GHS with the brand name "Sight for Ghana" is purposely to perpetually mobilise resources for eye care delivery. In that regard the GEF is to collaborate with the Government and other eye health organisations to achieve the aim of vision 2020: "The Right To See."

The GEF Concept paper noted that cataract, glaucoma, trachoma, childhood blindness, refractive errors and low visions as well as diabetes and sickle cell retinopathy accounted for the visual challenge facing the country.

It noted that every year 20,000 people became blind in both eyes from cataract and an additional 4,000 people becoming blind in one eye due to the same causes, saying it occurred mostly in persons over age 65 years.