Blindness and its prevention in the Philippines

ABSTRACT

In 1987, based on a total population of 57.3 million people, it was found that 907,000 Filipinos were blind in one or both eyes. In 1992, with a population of 62 million people, and using the same prevalence rates of 1.07 percent and 0.60 percent for bilateral and monocular blindness respectively, the number of blind Filipinos could have increased to 1,051,546 or an annual increment of some 28,900. Since this increment may represent essentially the number of sight restoring or preserving eye surgeries done in the country every year, it can be assumed that the overall backlog of blind people is not substantially reducedThousands more suffer from various ocular diseases and disorders, many of which are potentially blinding if not diagnosed early and treated adequatelyIn response to the eye health and blindness problem in the country, the Department of Health with the close cooperation and collaboration of the Filipino ophthalmologists, has formulated and adopted for implementation a national Program for the Prevention of Blindness. The Program has 4 complementary components Cataract Blindness Backlog Surgical Intervention; Avitaminosis A Control; Integration of Primary Eye Care into the Primary Health Care Approach; and Development of the Ophthalmic Capabilities of the Government Health Facilities. These major strategies are expected to achieve the goal of reducing the blindness prevalence rate of 1.07 percent to 0.50 percent by the end of the present century. In achieving this goal, the government which assumes the primary responsibility, relies on the full cooperation and support of the ophthalmologists, other health workers specially the non-ophthalmic physicians, and the public in general. (Summary)