Skip to 0 minutes and 8 seconds Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness globally. The glaucomas are a group of diseases that progressively damage the optic nerve and affect the visual field. Glaucoma is sometimes called the “silent thief of sight” because it is a slow, progressive condition. It is often only detected when a person experiences changes to their vision, at which point significant damage to the eye has already taken place. In 2020. It was estimated that more than 76 million people worldwide were affected by glaucoma, and this number is expected to increase to over 111 million by 2014 disproportionately affecting people in Africa and Asia.
Skip to 0 minutes and 53 seconds Data from eye health surveys has revealed that more than 50% of people found to have glaucoma had not been previously diagnosed or treated, even in high resource settings. Glaucoma is a lifelong condition with far reaching consequences for the individual, their families and communities. Diagnosis of glaucoma is difficult in any context. Access to eye care is essential for regular eye examination and prevention of blindness. This is a significant challenge across many low resource, rural and remote settings. Programmes need to establish pathways and assign resources for early diagnosis so as to prevent late presentation and irreversible vision loss from glaucoma. This requires trained personnel and equipment to measure intraocular pressure, undertake visual field testing and optic nerve head assessment.
Skip to 1 minute and 53 seconds This four week course has been developed in collaboration with glaucoma experts and will equip participants to understand how evidence has shaped our clinical practice of glaucoma. We will examine the challenges and opportunities for strengthening glaucoma management at a service and programme level. Join us as we explore what is the glaucoma? How big is the problem globally? What are the key risk factors? What are the diagnostic requirements? And how has evidence shaped management of glaucoma? We present a range of context specific examples and case studies from around the world to investigate this complex disease and understand the challenges for accessible and equitable service delivery.
Skip to 2 minutes and 46 seconds This course is for ophthalmologists, optometrists and all eye care providers engaged in the provision of glaucoma services. It is also relevant for medical practitioners and our health systems managers.
