Ottawa, ON — Glaucoma affects 250,000 Canadians – yet only half of them are aware they have the disease. The Canadian Glaucoma Society has partnered with the Canadian Ophthalmological Society and CNIB to develop a national awareness campaign focusing on glaucoma and its risk factors. It launches on World Glaucoma Day on March 6, 2008 and will run during March under the theme of “Don’t Get Blindsided by Glaucoma”.

The goal of the month is to increase public awareness of the disease, the second leading cause of blindness both worldwide and in Canada. The campaign also aims to show that there is now more hope than ever for people who have glaucoma.

“In recent years, progress in the diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma has been remarkable. It is now possible to diagnose glaucoma in the early stages, when we are much more likely to save someone’s vision,” says Dr. Yvonne Buys, President, Canadian Glaucoma Society.

Take the Glaucoma Challenge

One way Canadians can learn more about the disease is by taking CNIB’s Glaucoma Challenge, a new, bilingual, multimedia learning tool that employs user-friendly language, narration and animated sequences to challenge people to educate themselves about risk factors for this devastating eye condition or to learn better management strategies if they already have the disease. The CNIB Glaucoma Challenge is sponsored by Pfizer Ophthalmology and is part of an award-winning series of online learning tools developed by CNIB and AXS Biomedical Animation Studios Inc.

Devastating disease often goes unnoticed, can be treated if caught early

Glaucoma leads to, damage to the optic nerve and results in vision loss that is essentially progressive and irreversible. Since the disease progresses gradually beginning with peripheral vision loss that often goes unnoticed by the patient, people with glaucoma may become aware of it only once it’s too late to prevent permanent damage. Early detection and treatment are of paramount importance to prevent blindness.

According to Statistics Canada’s Canadian Community Health Survey of 2002-03, nearly three out of every 100 Canadians over the age of 40 self-reported having glaucoma. Best research available (2007) indicates that 250,000 Canadians have the disease, yet only half of them are aware of it. Since only half of glaucoma sufferers are aware they have the disease, this likely underestimates the true numbers.

“Most people are still unaware of the condition, its risk factors and the fact that treatment is available to prevent severe vision loss,” says Dr. Buys. “Declaring a National Glaucoma Day in Canada will bring about increased awareness of this devastating disease and its risk factors, and will encourage people to get regular eye checkups to prevent and treat glaucoma.”

Known risk factors for glaucoma include elevated pressure in the eye, increasing age, ethnicity (particularly being of African descent), having a family history of glaucoma, migraines, diabetes, nearsightedness and abnormally high or low blood pressure.

For more information, please contact:
Communications Team
416-486-2500
info@cnib.ca