Independent MEP Marian Harkin has used today – World Sight Day – to call for targeted awareness campaigns on preventable sight conditions.
Harkin noted that National Council for the Blind of Ireland (NCBI) statistics from 2010 showed that the direct cost of vision impairment to the Irish health care system is estimated at 116 million Euro. This figure is expected to rise to 136 million by 2020.
“These increasing costs can be prevented, and many people’s quality of life improved, if effective awareness campaigns encourage Irish citizens to go for testing,” she said.
“In particular,” Harkin added, “quality screening of high risk groups, such as elderly people and diabetes sufferers, could go a long way to prevent further sight deterioration.”
The Ireland North & West MEP said that “all too often we take our eyesight for granted, and if we want these campaigns to succeed, people must regard taking an eye test as being as easy and convenient as taking a cholesterol test.”
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