At Least 115200 Children Affected By Myopia Dr Addy

Ghana faces a growing public health threat as cases of myopia persist to rise among children.

Otherwise known as near-sightedness, in which people can see close objects clearly but objects farther away appear blurred, the condition is estimated to affecting 115,200 children in Ghana currently.

This, according to the Country Director for non-governmental organisation, HCP Cure Blindshy;ness Project, Dr James Addy, was mainly as a result of contemporary lifeshy;style trends among children and reduced outdoor activities.

Speaking in an exclusive inshy;terview with the Ghanaian Times ahead of World Sight Day (WSD), Dr Addy said; “we are seeing a high increase in refractive errors for children and 0.9 per cent per 1,000 suffer myopia. The lifestyle changes for children these days is their increase in screen time from their phones, tablets, computers, and the television.”

“Because they have this inshy;creased screen time, they don’t get time to go outside the house, to go and play. You hardly see children playing football nowadays and this is affecting or changing the eyes of our children.”

Dr Addy, who is also the immeshy;diate past Director of Eye Care at the Ghana Health Service (GHS), noted that the condition was prevshy;alent in urban areas than rural areas with implications going beyond health to affect the education and socio-economic potential of chilshy;dren in the medium to long term.

That, he said, posed a grave threat to the country’s development if efforts are not strengthened to alter the status quo and generally improve eye health in Ghana which has an increasing visually impaired population of over 0.75 per cent (230,000).

“Once children develop myoshy;pia, it could lead to many complishy;cations. Children may have retinal detachments and that will virtually make them impaired in their vision and they can go blind,” he stated.

They can also develop glaucoshy;ma from the refractive errors and myopia, causing headaches, dry eyes, blurred vision that can affect their general health and perforshy;mance in school.Ghanaian Times