600,000 Cameroonians at risk of blindness

This revelation was made recently in Yaoundé during an international Congress. On the menu of discussions between practitioners on the occasion of the 21st Congress of the Cameroonian society of Ophthalmology, February 26-28 was the improvement of practices, because care campaigns have been successful, but the extent of eye diseases remains the same.

Cameroon has a record of 150,000 blind people while 600,000 patients are threatened with blindness. Among the consultations, several cases require surgical interventions. From January to September 2013, for example, Yaoundé's main hospital received 4,330 patients in ophthalmologic consultation including 374 cases of operation. It is said that eye diseases are a public health problem in Cameroon.

Unfortunately, there are few specialists with only 76 nationwide. Moreover, all regions have not benefited from an ophthalmologist. The essence of eye care, therefore, lies in prevention.

Eye health care campaigns are part of the tools available to the State to combat blindness. They provide care to people who do not have enough resources to support themselves. Because, it must be stressed that eye care is expensive. 70-80% of blindness is preventable or curable, so all are advised to prevent diseases that can cause losing of your sight cataract, onchocerciasis, glaucoma, etc.

In the case of onchocerciasis, for example, on 184 health districts, 110 are endemic to this disease with more than 10 million of exposed persons (62% of the population) and five million infected people.

However, there is a decrease in the number of blind and the absence of new cases in endemic areas. Eye health care could soon take a new scope with the opening of the international Centre for sight, a hospital specializing in the sub-region.

The construction works are advanced in the locality of Obak, district of Okola, according to a credible source at the Ministry of Public Health.