English abstract
The World Health Organization estimates that 285 million people in the world are visually impaired. The major cause for visual impairment is refractive errors (43%) of which 80% are preventable. Further, nearly 50% of the 1.04 billion presbyopes do not have a pair of spectacles, of these 94% are in the developing world. The global initiative to eliminate avoidable blindness – VISION 2020: The right to sight – launched in Oman in 1999 has made considerable progress and helped shift the focus from communicable and noncurable diseases to avoidable and chronic diseases. However, managing uncorrected refractive errors and an estimation of its impact on productivity appears to have received less attention, although the prevalence of refractive errors here is comparable to other countries. Increasing diabetic retinopathy is another major challenge. Proper awareness and periodic screening are the two best possible ways to reduce the risk of diabetic retinopathy. Hence Optometrists can contribute significantly to Oman's efforts to ensure the right to sight.
