Aging, metabolic illness become main sources of blindness

Eye diseases related to aging and metabolic illness have become the main causes of blindness in China, replacing other factors from the past, including cataracts, trachoma, and amblyopia, according to a recent white paper.

In particular, the number of patients suffering from diabetic retinopathy and age-related Mascular Degeneration rose significantly over the past few years, said the White Paper on Eye Health in China, complied by the national committee for blindness prevention and published on Thursday.

Executives from the World Health Organization, the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness with the WHO, the Vision Loss Expert Group with the WHO, and Novartis Pharmaceuticals (China), as well as leading eye disease experts in China, participated in the online meeting to publish the white paper.

The improved economic level of the country, people's lifestyle, and the intensified aging situation were the reasons that triggered the change, according to experts.

"The WHO and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness initiated a global action in 1999 to eradicate avoidable blindness by 2020, and the white paper was released to call on all sectors in society to pay more attention to eye diseases causing blindness, especially glaucoma and fundus diseases," said Wang Ningli, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and head of the national committee for blindness prevention.

"We observed that Asia standardized prevalence by cause has reduced blindness, all causes except for diabetic retinopathy. We're seeing an increase of 45 percent in age prevalence of diabetic retinopathy-related blindness over this period of time and that remains a really important challenge," said Rupert Bourne from the Vision Loss Expert Group.

The White Paper pointed out that China ranks as the world's first regarding the number of patients suffering from fundus diseases, but less than 10 percent of the 30 million sufferers received proper medical treatment, leading to severe burdens on families and society.

Also, there is an obvious lack of capacity and capability to treat such diseases at the grassroots level, the white paper said.

"Data showed that 87 percent of the country's diabetes patients receive treatment at county-level medical institutions or those at lower levels, but the medical measures and techniques treating diabetic retinopathy are almost exclusive to the top hospitals in big cities so far," Wang said.

The national committee for blindness prevention said that it will continue to promote the inclusion of glaucoma and fundus diseases in the country's eye healthcare master plan for the upcoming five years, which will help establish a system for early screening, diagnosis and treatment of the main fundus diseases for a larger population base.