Public Urged to Regularly Have Eye Check as Blindness Prevalence Remains High

Head of the Communications and People Services Bureau of The Ministry of Health, drg. Widyawati at her keynote speech in Bakohumas Thematic Forum, at Aston Hotel, Pasteur, Bandung, West Java, Tuesday (30/10). (Photo: Heni/PR)

The prevalence of blindness among Indonesian children today reaches 4 percent, or equals 1.4 million people.

As a whole, prevalence of blindness and vision impairment in the country especially the one caused by cataract, glaucoma, and other causes also remain high.

“Vision impairment affects everyone regardless of their age. Therefore, the public should be educated on how to prevent and control blindness and other vision impairment,” said Head of the Communications and People Services Bureau of Ministry of Health drg. Widyawati, Mkm. at the Bakohumas Thematic Forum, at Aston Hotel, Bandung, West Java, Tuesday (30/10).

Widyawati also urged groups with high blindness risks especially babies and schoolchildren, as well as those that suffer from diabetes and hypertension to keep their eyes healthy and regularly check their eyes at schools or at Integrated Health Service Post (Posyandu) in their areas. She added that people’s rising welfare could also affect their lifestyle and this causes them to be more susceptible to cataract.

Therefore, Widyawati urged the pubic to maintain their health so that change in their lifestyle could not be easily be affected by cataract, which will also lead to blindness.

Meanwhile, Acting as Secretary of the Directorate General of Information and Public Communications of the Ministry of Communication Sumiati said Indonesia ranks third among countries with high risk of blindness in the world. One of the consequences of this vision impairment, she said, is the people’s productivity that will drop and will eventually affect their social lives.

Sumiati further said that measures to prevent blindness in Indonesia is not only the task of the Government but also the public in terms of providing access to information on how to prevent blindness.

“The Government has prepared facilities, such as Community Health Center (Puskesmas) and hospitals equipped with health insurance for cataract surgery,” Sumiati said. (HEN/ES)(HYP/EP/Naster)

Translated by: Harli Yudha Pratama
Edited by: Muhammad Ersan Pamungkas