The Pacific Eye Institute has raised concerns on the number of young people coming in for Diabetic Retinopathy which is a disease that affects the eyesight because of diabetes.
Institute’s Operations Manager, Joseva Tikomailepanoni says it is the second most prevalent disease that makes a person blind.
He has also raised concerns that a lot of people are not coming to clinics at an early stage to get their eyesight checked as Grade 1 and 2 Diabetes Retinopathy is reversible when detected early.
Tikomailepanoni says the number of young people coming in with grade 3-6 is alarming.
Tikomailepanoni says it is better to treat it early rather than waiting for later stages which is not reversible and the person will go blind.
He is urging people not to miss their appointments for check-ups if they have diabetes, follow the doctors advice and visit the nearest diabetes eye clinic and get their eyes checked so that Diabetes Retinopathy can be detected earlier.
Meanwhile, the Pacific Eye Institute as part of their World Sight Day celebration will be at the Savusavu Hospital till this Thursday where they are screening patients and will be conducting surgeries on Tuesday and Wednesday.
They are targeting 500 people to come for screening and 50 people for surgeries.
Tikomailepanoni is urging people to visit the clinics as no specialized teams from overseas has visited them.
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