“Open Your Eyes” tour visits Cardiff

12 July 2006

More than one hundred thousand people in Wales (two million in the UK) are at risk of needlessly losing their sight through treatable eye conditions, according to a new report – Open Your Eyes¹ – launched by RNIB Cymru².
Nine out of ten people fear losing their sight above any other sense, yet one in three still failed to have an eye test in the last two years.

100,000 people in Wales are living with significant sight loss. Without decisive action by 2020 there will be 200,000 people with sight loss in Wales - double today’s figure. This is due in part to the ageing population but also to an increase in underlying causes such as diabetes.  Around 118,000 people in Wales have been diagnosed with diabetes, and tens of thousands of others may have the condition without yet knowing it³.

Peter Wicks, 73, from Fishguard commented: “I started to lose my sight about 2 years ago through Diabetic Retinopathy and had treatment for this.  My sight started to get worse, but I assumed it was just ordinary degeneration - blindness runs in my family.  It was only after I had a couple of nasty falls down stairs that I had the condition investigated.  It turned out I had another condition called wet AMD that is very aggressive.  My eye sight quickly declined while I assumed nothing could be done.  I have had a great deal of surgery and laser treatment, but the best I can hope for now is that it won't get any worse.  My advice would be look after your sight and have regular eye tests.  If you notice any changes go straight to your optician - they might not be able to make it better, but they might stop it getting any worse.”

The All-Wales Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Service has been rolled out across Wales, but only screens people that have been diagnosed with diabetes.  Sight loss through diabetes is preventable, but you have to know you have the condition and attend screening every year.  Screening is not a substitute for an optician sight test as it only screens for diabetes.

St David's Shopping Centre stand

The ‘Open Your Eyes’ shopping centre tour will visit the St David's Centre in Cardiff on 14 and 15 July, providing information and advice about eye health and the importance of regular eye tests to avoid sight loss.

The stand features a booth where people can have their photo taken. People are asked questions about their lifestyle and the results are used to age their image to show how they could look at the age of 70. The image will be printed for free and given to them along with relevant eye health information.

Cardiff Community meeting

RNIB Cymru will be holding a community meeting with Age Concern Cardiff and the Vale and Cardiff Institute for the Blind to deliver key eye health messages to older people about avoidable blindness.  There will be talks about prevention and treatment of the most common eye conditions.