GLAUCOMA INITIATIVE
The goal of our Glaucoma Initiative is to enable access to the best treatment available, for patients worldwide.
Worldwide, glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness, impacting 60 million people around the globe...
but up to half don’t know they have this blinding condition.
Why is it so common?
Glaucoma is the name given to a group of conditions that involve the optic nerve. In many cases, the nerve connecting the eye to the brain is damaged, usually due to high eye pressure.
Risk factors include age, frailty, gender, myopia, genetics, family history, smoking and increased intraocular pressure in the eye.
Left untreated, there is a high risk of severe visual impairment and blindness.
A true public health issue
As a common condition, glaucoma is a public health concern and a priority among healthcare planers and policy makers, worldwide.
Early detection and treatment to prevent blindness is key to delaying or even stopping the progress of glaucoma.
Early detection is only possible with access to high quality eye health care.
THE REACH OF OUR TRAINING, EQUIPMENT & SUPPORT
BHUTAN’S FIRST GLAUCOMA SPECIALIST
In 2012, Sight For All trained Bhutan’s first glaucoma specialist, Dr Deki, who undertook a 12-month fellowship at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, in Australia. Dr Deki is pictured on the left, receiving her certificate of completion.
TRAINING FELLOWS IN MORE PARTNER COUNTRIES
In 2014, Myanmar’s Dr May Ko Ko Thet trained as a glaucoma specialist on a 12-month fellowship at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
Also in 2014, Dr Khamphoua trained as the first glaucoma specialist in Lao at the National Ophthalmology Centre (NOC) in Vientiane.
In December 2017, Drs Tharath and Sophal from Khmer Soviet Friendship Hospital, Phnom Penh, Cambodia completed fellowships in glaucoma through Sight For All’s reverse fellowship project.
Three glaucoma fellows, Drs Hien, Ha and Truc, were trained at the Vietnam National Institute of Ophthalmology, Hanoi, Vietnam with training completed in 2019.
