My trip to Lahj [Archives:2007/1110/Health]

Nader T. Al-Sakkaf
For Yemen Times
Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit Lahj governorate as part of an ophthalmological camp at Ibn Khaldoun Hospital.

During that week, I witnessed the poor, mostly women and the illiterate, coming to the hospital for eye surgeries. However, they hadn't even the most basic eye health education to know when to go to the hospital or even an eye clinic when they have a complaint about their eyes.

Rather, they simply wait until they can't see or have a major problem and then visit the eye doctor or sometimes a local healer before that, thus worsening their condition and coming to us at a late stage when we can't offer them much help.

The problem actually involves both patients and doctors, as rural areas need more health education programs to get the message to their residents to save their precious eyesight before it's too late for them, as well as for us to treat them.

Some symptoms indicating a need to visit the eye doctor to check eye health include:

Headaches

This is the most common complaint, caused by any number of factors involving the eyes or other health factors, such as the normal stresses of life. If experiencing regular headaches, go to the eye doctor for a checkup.

Impaired vision

The main reason people visit the eye doctor is for loss of vision, either due to refractive error, which requires glasses to correct, or possibly cataract (clouding of the eye's lens), the main cause of gradually decreased vision in the elderly, especially in Yemen, in which case an operation is necessary to correct vision.

Red eyes

This results from either eye exhaustion due to lifestyle or problems such as dry eyes or inflammation, which should be treated by an eye doctor, not as some do by visiting the nearest pharmacy and purchasing medication without consulting an eye doctor. In many cases, this worsens the condition, so ensure eye safety by visiting the eye doctor, just to be on the safe side.

Conjunctivitis

Also called pinkeye, this common eye disease is due to poor hygiene and involves mucopurulent (“sleep”) or watery eye discharge, mostly in the morning. An inflammation of the conjunctiva (the outermost layer of the eye and the inner surface of the eyelids), it is transmitted either by handling contaminated material or, again via the hands, in crowded places where people are in close contact, such as schools, particularly kindergartens, and factories. In this case, see an eye doctor, who can diagnose it and prescribe proper treatment.

Eye pain

When describing their discomfort, some patients confuse headaches and eye pain, which may be a sign of some type of discomfort or may indicate some other eye disease, so if experiencing regular eye pain, it may be time to visit the eye doctor for a checkup.

Increased intraocular pressure

This symptom is for those who've been diagnosed with glaucoma. Such patients must be more organized in their eye exams, taking a small notebook to write all of the data from the visit to the eye doctor if no record is given by the doctor, especially if their visit is to a public hospital. The data needed to follow up glaucoma patients is visual acuity, intraocular pressure and visual field on certain bases. Such patients also shouldn't forget to return to the eye doctor whenever he or she determines it necessary.

If we can increase public health awareness in Yemen, we can overcome many health problems that may cost patients their precious eyesight. As eye doctors, we need to get our message to those in urban and rural areas equally to help them understand when to visit the eye doctor before it's too late. This way, we can save our nation a lot of money by treating such problems early before they become complicated.

Nader T. Al-Sakkaf is an ophthalmological resident at Aden's Al-Jumhuriya Teaching Hospital.
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