Glaucoma call gets optics support

Fri 8th February 2008

Over 200,000 people in the UK have ‘needlessly’ lost their sight to glaucoma, a new RNIB campaign claims.

Recommendations in its new report, ‘Don’t blame the patient’, which is being backed by the optical profession, highlights the importance of eye examinations and calls for government action on patient compliance to treatments.

The RNIB’S campaign emphasises glaucoma has no symptoms in its early stages that require patients to use eye drops for the rest of their lives to avoid losing their sight.

It gives three main reasons why patients continue to lose their sight from the condition:

•    Failure to detect glaucoma early, especially in the Afro-Caribbean community who are at much greater risk of developing the disease

•    Problems with following prescribed treatment regimes

•    Stopping treatment altogether To professionals involved in glaucoma care an RNIB spokesman said it is important to stress to patients the importance of taking their treatments – the charity’s message to sufferers is ‘don’t stop the drops!’ and to everyone else it is  attend regular eye tests.

‘We are calling for joint action from the Government and all stakeholders such as eye care professionals, pharmaceutical firms and patient groups to form a uk-wide alliance to eliminate unnecessary sight loss from glaucoma,’ said the spokesman.

Other recommendations include government funding for a pilot to identify a successful strategy to address ‘barriers to compliance’, and groups involved in glaucoma care to put compliance at the heart of new shared care schemes.

Speaking on behalf of the Eye Health Alliance, FODO boss David Hewlett said the publication was timely, coming on the eve of the GOS Review, and said it highlighted the need for more eye care in the community to detect glaucoma and other optical diseases.

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