Madrid (EFE).- Almost 5 million Spaniards suffer loss of vision due to degenerations and diseases, 300,000 of them blind or functionally blind, while ophthalmologists estimate that the incidence of myopia is increasing and that in a few years more than Half of the population will suffer from it in Spain, 10% in a high or aggravated form.
These are the conclusions that emerge from the conference “The prevention of blindness and visual impairment in Spain. A collective commitment”, which was held this Thursday in Congress with a range of ophthalmology specialists and representatives of patient associations, administrations and companies in the visual health sector.
Both professionals and patients have denounced that 80% of pathologies would improve with an early diagnosis and that the waiting lists for a specialist exceed six months, while the aging of the population in Spain causes an increase in the prevalence of loss of vision, caused mainly by cataracts, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration.
Increase in cases of myopia in Spain, the blindness of tomorrow
They have also put on the table “the blindness of tomorrow”, with an increase in the incidence in the population of myopia associated with current habits of education, work and leisure, as stated by Alfredo Garcia Layana, director of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Navarra Clinic, who urges administrations to raise awareness about “prevention” at an early age.
He explained that the challenge for ophthalmology services is not only the long waiting lists and the increase in patients with macular degeneration, cataracts or visual problems associated with diseases such as diabetes, but also “the future”, which now passes through the habits of life of the little ones, who should be instilled in “going outdoors” since this reduces the progression of myopia and contributes to improving long-term visual health.
It has estimated that in the coming decades the prevalence of myopia will reach more than half of the population, with up to 10% of people with a high degree, an issue that, in addition to promoting blindness, can lead to other eye pathologies .
García Layana has given as an example that in East Asia it is currently the main cause of blindness, which is why he calls for “acting now”, a question that must start with administrations and politicians.
Both he and the rest of the speakers have urged to increase the capacities of the health system with a visual plan in Spain with special emphasis on prevention, since “early diagnosis is essential”, with screening programs and with a greater human resources and technology in Primary Care.
Lists of up to six months for an ophthalmologist
From the time a patient arrives at Primary Care until he is referred, six months or more can pass, a time without medication or intervention that can lead to “irreversible damage”, denounced Joaquin Carratalá, president of the Glaucoma Patients Association, who It has been estimated that 70% are diagnosed with the disease “when they have lost a lot of vision.”
In his case, he has narrated that he was diagnosed late with this disease in his left eye, at the age of 28, and that he has progressively lost vision in his right eye -after 23 interventions- “until he only perceived lights.”
A situation, it has affected, that supposes a drama and a duel both on a personal and family level in which the patient has to go on a mandatory basis to “reinvent himself”.
Jacinto Zulueta, president of the Macula-Retina Association, has insisted that part of the “cost of blindness” at a human, economic and social level could be avoided and has recalled that losing vision is also a “significant burden” for the portfolio of social benefits and the National Health System, with a “great emotional impact” for those who suffer it and for their family.