The eyes are said to be the window to the soul. This expression essentially means that you can discern a lot about an individual by simply gazing into their eyes.
Health workers trained to treat the eyes can tell you just how healthy, or not, your eyes are by giving them a thorough examination.
In order to promote the importance of healthy eyes, World Sight Day (WSD) was brought into being by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) several years ago. IAPB is an alliance of civil society organisations and professional bodies on a mission to promote eye health.
Moreover, WSD is the focal advocacy and public relations event for IAPB and its members and partners each year, even as it highlights that 75 percent of blindness is avoidable. It has been deduced that three out of four people have avoidable visual impairment. For this reason, WSD provides a platform for organisations to encourage governments, corporations, institutions and individuals to actively support global blindness prevention efforts.
Guyana has joined this important mission and will be seeking to help citizens avoid blindness, as far as possible, by enlightening them about prevention methods and treatment available to help save their sight.
In this regard, the Georgetown Public Hospital, the country’s premier public health institution, will be hosting a free eye testing clinic for persons to know the status of their eyes and get needful treatment and advice. The clinic, which will commence at 08:30 hours (8am) until 13:30 hours (1:30pm), will be held on Thursday October 11, 2018 to commemorate WSD.
Patients accessing the clinic can have their eyes tested for glaucoma, cataract, refractive errors, diabetic retinopathy and other eye diseases, the hospital announced.
A team of nurses will also be conducting group educational sessions with patients to spread awareness about eye health and eye care.
Also those accessing the clinic will be eligible for screening in the hospital’s Diabetic Retinopathy Centre.
The Screening on WSD will be done by the Staff of the Department of Ophthalmology including Ophthalmologists, Optometrists, doctors and nurses of the GPHC Eye Clinic. Screening will also be done at the Vision Centre, located in the hospital’s compound.
On the same day, students of the School of Optometry at the University of Guyana will be conducting WSD Commemorative activities on campus.
