Glaucoma: a major public health challenge

The World Glaucoma Association is this week marking World Glaucoma Week, in a bid to raise awareness on the need to tackle the ever-increasing challenge posed by glaucoma.

Glaucoma is a common eye condition. According to the WHO World Report on Vision 2019, there are around 80 million people with glaucoma and it is the fourth leading cause of preventable loss of vision. The prevalence of glaucoma is expected to increase significantly in the future, mostly due to an ageing population.

A survey by Cachia J. et al. (1989) had found that around three per cent of those older than 40 years in Malta had glaucoma. An ongoing study will shed light on the current disease burden locally.  

From personal experience, the word ‘glaucoma’ evokes various misconceptions. It is frequently wrongly linked with eye pain or headache and is equated with high pressure in the eye. General understanding about the condition is low and increased public awareness would help bring people forward to undergo regular eye testing. 

So, what exactly is glaucoma? Defining this disease is challenging and ‘glaucoma’ is a label given to many different conditions which, ultimately, result in permanent damage to the...