The World Is Bright … Protect Your Sight

14 March 2023

Primary Eyecare Services are proud to be supporting World Glaucoma Week which starts today.

World Glaucoma Week was launched in 2010 by the World Glaucoma Patient Association in partnership with the World Glaucoma Association.

Its overarching objective is to raise awareness, among practitioners and the public alike, around glaucoma and its long-term implications.

To this end, a wide range of educational and informative activities have been arranged and are currently taking place all over the world, encouraging patients, eye care providers, health providers and other key stakeholders and influencers to contribute to the cause of sight preservation.

The ultimate goal of the week is to motivate people to arrange regular eye and optic nerve checks through regular sight tests in local opticians (also knowns as optometry practices) so that glaucoma can be detected as early as possible.

Usually caused by fluid building up in the front of the eye, glaucoma generally gives no warning until it has reached an advanced state. However, the damage it causes to vision is ongoing and could become irreversible.

In many cases, early diagnosis and prompt treatment can stabilise the damage. This means that the earlier the condition is detected, the more vision there is to save and the less likely the person is to become blind.

People most likely to present with the condition are those who have a close relative who has already been diagnosed and people of African-Caribbean or East Asian origin. Diabetes, low blood pressure and short-sightedness are also associated with developing glaucoma

Neeru Gupta, President of the World Glaucoma Association, said:

“World Glaucoma Week is a unique initiative that puts a spotlight on glaucoma as the leading cause of preventable irreversible blindness worldwide. The prompt diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma can prevent needless vision impairment, however, so many are unaware they have the disease or may not have access to much-needed care.

The active coming together of the international community with colleagues and key stakeholders through events to stimulate awareness and dialogue is a show of our shared commitment to improving glaucoma care for patients around the world.’

Dharmesh Patel, Chief Executive of Primary Eyecare Services, said:

‘We are delighted to be supporting World Glaucoma Week 2023. We are asking all our eye care professionals, based in optometry practices across the length and breadth of England, to join thousands of other participating organisations around the world by raising awareness among patients and the public about the importance of regular sight tests to enable early detection of glaucoma.’

PES is particularly active in supporting glaucoma referral filtering and monitoring services to support more care closer to home for patients and enabling more timely access to those in need of them.

This year’s campaign theme for World Glaucoma Week is ‘The world is bright … protect your sight’ and a communication toolkit, including downloadable poster designs and social media posts, can be accessed here.

Additional resources are also available on the College of Optometrists website.