The Kenya Society for The Blind has sounded an alarm over the rising cases of vision loss.
The organisation’s chairperson Angela Wambui has said it rehabilitates 20 to 30 people who go blind each month to help them adapt to their new way of life.
Wambui has said if sufficient awareness is not conducted countrywide, statistics indicate Kenya may have more than 10 million blind people in 10 years.
The reason: most Kenyans fail to go for regular eye checkups and don't see doctors for what they consider minor ailments.
“Everybody should have an annual eye checkup so any complications can be addressed before they progress too far. If you don’t do that, chances are high that you may have complications that can eventually cost you your eyesight,” she said.
It is estimated that out of a population of 4.3 million people aged above 50, there are 92,000 new cases of visual impairment. Of that number, 11,600 are blind.
In 2019, the society announced there were 750,000 visually impaired and 300,000 totally blind Kenyans.
About 80 per cent of eye conditions are treatable but can cause blindness if left untreated for a long time.
She said the rising cases of people turning blind is concerning and called for the cooperation of all parties to educate Kenyans.
The emphasis on increased non-communicable diseases may eclipse the issue of visual impairment in Central, Wambui told the Star. That means more blind people.
Diabetes, she said, is one cause of blindness that increasingly has been affecting younger people. Diabetes has wrongly been considered a condition of old age.
Wambui cautioned women against using beauty products with chemicals on their eyes because they compromise eye health.
“Eye liners that more and more women are using put their eyes at risk. Women should also avoid artificial eye lashes which are glued to their eye lids because we do not know the chemical composition of the glue,” she said.
Eye conditions affecting Kenyans also vary with environmental factors.
The society has partnered with gubernatorial aspirant Jamleck Kamau to conduct free medical camps across Murang’a. So far they have treated more than 10,000 eye patients.
More than 400 patients have had free cataracts surgeries that in partnership with the Lions Eye Hospital.
She said the highest number of cataracts diagnosed in the county were in Ithanga area in Gatanga constituency.
Wambui pleaded with Kenyans not to ignore an optical issues, no matter how small, saying treatment could save their eyesight.
She urged the government to work with partners to conduct outreach in the grassroots to ensure as many Kenyans as possible are treated and educated about proper eye care.
“Such outreaches would make it possible for many people to to avert blindness,” she said.
She said the medical camps in Murang’a have made clear th dire situation in Cenral region. She said many people wrongly assume residents are well off as they are close to Nairobi.
“We assume people here are okay because they have hospitals in their villages. But when you interact with them, you realise many people, especially the elderly, are living very poor lives, burdened by health problems but have no one to turn to.
The organisation that was founded in 1956 through an Act of Parliament is mandated to promoting the welfare of the blind and alleviate visual impairment, among other roles.
It has conducted 183 eye camps across the country and has rehabilitated more than 36,000 people who lost their sight.
The society is working with the Ministry of Education and other partners to implement the Kenya Integrated Education Programme (Kiep).
It sponsors leraners with visual impairment and facilitates them with white canes, braille readers and scientific calculators.
Through the programme, 2,500 children have been reached.
The society organises charitable Dinners in the Dark where guests sit in total darkness and are served by blind waiters. The aim is to give people a small sense of how unsighted people live.
(Edited by V. Graham)
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