As part of its annual disease awareness campaign, the MOMIC committee of the University of Ghana medical school is set organize a Free Eye screening to create awareness on Glaucoma.
The screening exercise which is scheduled to take place on the 15 January at the Accra Mall is expected to create awareness on Glaucoma
MOMIC is a committee formed of Third-year medical students and undertake Social health projects every year to educate society and give back to society as well. They have undertaken notable projects in the past including Cervical cancer and Hepatitis B awareness campaigns.
Represented by the Nana Owusu Mensah, MOMIC President and Valerie Diana Payne, MOMIC vice President on the ‘Y Campus Express’ show with Jonny Stone on Y 107.9 FM, Nana Osuwu explained what Glaucoma meant and explained the reason why they chose to sensitize the public about it.
“Glaucoma is a group of conditions that causes blindness by damaging the optic nerve and thus it affects an individual’s ability to see. Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness and the damage Glaucoma does is permanent to the eye.”
“Ghana ranks 2nd with the country with the highest number of Glaucoma patients and so the MOMIC committee finds it Prudent to undertake a project on Glaucoma awareness seeing how much havoc Glaucoma has wrecked in the country, he added.
For her part, Vice President of MOMIC President and Valerie Diana Payne, stated some factors that could cause an individual to be diagnosed with Glaucoma and mentioned some practices that could reduce the risk factors or chances of being diagnosed by the disease.
“Some of the risk factors include Old age, increased intraocular pressure, that is if you have eye pressure, diabetes, family history and Myopia, she said.
“Regular eye screening, using appropriate eye medications at appropriate times, regular exercising, knowing your family history and eating balanced diets are practices individuals can adopt to reduce their risk factors but not to prevent the disease,” she explained.
By: Caleb Asante Annor
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