Ras Al Khaimah: Taking forward the Nazar Ayeni (My Eyesight) community initiative that has provided eye tests to more than 16,000 Ras Al Khaimah residents and ahead of World Glaucoma Week, RAK Hospital will be conducting a free eye check up camp on Saturday, from 9am to 5pm, at RAK Eye Care Centre.
Glaucoma is an eye disease that can cause blindness by damaging the nerve in the back of the eye.
The camp will focus on diabetes-linked eye diseases and will provide a free vision test, tonometry, or eye pressure measurement to check for glaucoma, retinal imaging to find and treat eye problems and macular degeneration, along with a complimentary consultation with a retina specialist.
“Diabetes patients are 20 times more likely to experience vision problems, so preventing the condition is all about managing it. That is why, we recommend everyone with diabetes to have a comprehensive dilated eye examination at least once a year,” said Dr Mohit Jain, specialist ophthalmologist at RAK Hospital.
The Nazar Ayeni mission aims to screen the entire population of Ras Al Khaimah by 2020 while constantly working on eliminating causes of blindness and vision disorders as a public health problem.
Through this programme, the hospital conducts continuous awareness and screening campaigns and early detection of eye diseases which may lead to blindness or other serious eye problems.
Studies indicate that nearly 86 per cent of Type I diabetics get retinopathy while 33 per cent of Type 2 get it. However, what is really dangerous is that nearly one-third of these people are unaware about the disease, which can be prevented and slowed down with early intervention.
“We want to create awareness about the high incidences of diabetes related eye diseases. Given the soaring prevalence of the disease among UAE residents, I think it’s crucial to educate them about the complications and showing them how early detection and intervention can help reverse or slow the process. Moreover, through our Nazar Ayeni program we wish to identify cases where residents need further eye treatment in order to prevent preventable blindness. Through such initiatives we want to contribute to the society in our own small way,” added Dr Raza Siddiqui, Executive Director of RAK Hospital.
“As UAE marks 2017 as the Year of Giving, Our Nazar Ayeni and Diabetes Prevention program “Lets Beat Diabetes” are fully dedicated to the concept, while as a group we would be launching a number of initiatives throughout the year to contribute to the cause”, added Dr Raza.
With a focused commitment to provide compassionate, safe and high quality ophthalmic services, the center aims to transform eye care service standards. The facility is the first and the only dedicated Eye Specialty Centre in the entire Northern Emirates working on prevention of blindness while offering comprehensive patient care, sight enhancement and rehabilitation services along with high-impact eye health programmes.
