Cataract continues to be the primary cause of blindness in Ghana, leaving 165,000 people currently affected. This figure accounts for over half of the country’s total blind population, which stands at 250,000. Annually, new cataract-related blindness cases make up 20 percent of the previous year’s total. These details were shared by Dr. Hornametor Afake, Head of the National Eye Care Unit at the Ghana Health Service, during the media launch for this year’s World Sight Day held in Accra yesterday.
World Sight Day
World Sight Day is marked each year to promote awareness of blindness and visual impairment, advocate for accessible and high-quality eye care, and encourage action at every level. In Ghana, the day provides an occasion to review progress, address ongoing challenges, and reaffirm the country’s commitment to preventing avoidable blindness and visual impairment.
This year’s observance focused on the theme: “Increasing access to quality eye care in Ghana.” Globally, at least 2.2 billion people experience vision impairment or blindness, with nearly one billion cases being preventable or yet to be treated. In Ghana, a 2015 survey found that 1.07 percent of the population—about 360,000 people—suffered from severe visual impairment, and 67.74 percent of those who are blind live in areas with limited or no access to quality eye care services.
Glaucoma
Dr. Afake stated that glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness in Ghana, accounting for blindness in 60,000 people, or 19.4 percent of cases. He added that posterior segment diseases, including diabetic retinopathy and corneal opacities, are also significant contributors, responsible for 12.9 percent and 11.2 percent of blindness cases, respectively.
Despite this, Dr. Afake noted that Ghana has performed fewer than 30,000 cataract surgeries annually over the past five years, resulting in an average cataract surgical rate (CSR) of about 712 in the last five years and 860 in the past three years. Ideally, he said, approximately 68,000 surgeries would need to be performed each year to eliminate the current backlog within three years, but this target has not been met.
“Currently, our surgical cataract coverage is about 18 per cent. This means that for every 100 cataract patients who need surgery in this country, only 18 per cent of them have received surgery. This calls for urgent action to increase access, especially in the newly created regions,” he added.
He attributed the challenge to inadequate human resources for eye health in Ghana and limited equipment in some regions, especially for subspecialty care, adding that currently, Ghana had 141 ophthalmologists, 570 optometrists, 900 ophthalmic nurses and 800 opticians.
He said even though the figures represented significant growth compared to previous decades, the distribution remained uneven, with rural and underserved regions facing critical shortages.
He pointed out that six regions of the country, namely Western North, Savannah, North East, Upper West, Upper East and Oti, had zero ophthalmologists, highlighting major equity gaps.
Other challenges to access, he mentioned, included financial barriers, low awareness leading to late presentation of conditions, such as glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy, and inadequate funding for eye health programmes.
Eye screening
The Director, Family Health Division of the GHS, Dr Kennedy Britson, urged the public to go for eye screening tests and also avoid using concoctions on their eyes. “If your eyesight is disturbing you, please seek quick help. Don’t try and pick somebody’s glasses and try them on. Your problem may be different,” he advised.
The immediate past president of the Ophthalmological Society of Ghana, Dr Dzifa Ofori-Adjei, urged Ghanaians to be champions of eye health by loving their eyes, getting their eyes tested regularly and encouraging family, colleagues and friends to do the same.
She also called on the government to invest in eye health infrastructure, ensure the equitable distribution of human resources and pass key legislation that supported organ and tissue regulation and quality service delivery.
The Director, Technical Coordination of the Ministry of Health, Dr Hafez Adam Taher, said the ministry remained committed to improving access to quality care services across the country, adding that eye health was a vital component of its broader national health agenda.
Other speakers included the Director-General of the GHS, whose speech was read on his behalf, and the Country Chairman of Global Eye Summit, Dr Boateng Wiafe.
Source: Augustina Tawiah
