By Maria Hlonipho

The South African National Council for the Blind was honoured by a visit of a delegation of twelve ophthalmic nursing students and two lecturers from the Institute of Health Sciences in Molepolole, Botswana from the 7th to the 11th of March 2011. These students were professional nurses, registered for the post basic course in Ophthalmic Nursing and were in their last semester of an 18 month course. The Bureau for the Prevention of Blindness coordinated the participation of various stakeholders in Council and at the University of Pretoria.

The purpose of the educational tour was to understand Council’s role in community eye care and to acquire practical experience in surgical eye care.

Jace Nair, our National Executive Director and the management of Council’s various divisions delivered presentations on the following topics:
• An overview of Council with the focus on our governance, projects and fundraising;
• Our comprehensive Eye Care Programme;
• Our Community Development Programme;
• Orientation and Mobility Services; and,
• Our Community Based Rehabilitation Services.

The nurses visited our Resource Centre, the Itireleng Community Project in Ga-Rankuwa as well as our training facilities at Optima where they received a practical demonstration on Orientation and Mobility. They also visited the Tshwane and Kalafong hospitals to observe operations for cataracts, and special operations such as corneal transplants, repair of detached retinas, phaco-emulsifications, plastic surgery on eyelids, etc.

The Botswana delegation also shared their experiences in eye care services and training of nurses with our staff and acknowledged that they benefited a lot from their visit. The tour leader expressed their appreciation of the clinical learning opportunities presented by Council and the hospitals and promised to visit again every two years when they have another intake of ophthalmic nursing students.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) released preliminary data for the global prevalence of blindness and visual impairment, shortly before World Sight Day.

According to the new preliminary estimates, visual impairment has reduced from 314 million people in 2004, to 285.3 million today. Of these, an estimated 39.8 million people worldwide are blind, the rest are partially sighted. For full view the World Sight Day 2010 Press Release from the link below.

The South African National Council for the Blind is proud to be part of the WHO's Vision 2020 programme that is responsible for the decline in persons who are needlessly blind.

Perhaps the saddest aspect to the Lady GaGa doll-eyes phenomenon is that her eyes in the Bad Romance video, were digitally enhanced and not a result of contact lenses known as Circle Lenses.

The lenses, which are cheaply manufactured in Asia and available over the internet are becoming a worldwide craze despite being banned for sale in the USA. These oversized lenses which have been popular in Asia, with the popularity of anime, for many years now are seen as a cause of blindness.

These lenses are thicker than normal contact lenses and cover a large portion of the eye which allows for very little oxygen to reach the eyes causing blindness. Also, due to the large surface area of the plastic disc, there is a higher risk of causing scratches and cuts to the eyeball which can result in infections and blindness. Poor hygiene with cosmetic contact lens users such as sharing lenses, the prolonged use of lenses and not cleaning lenses with an approved solution results in infection as well.

It is recommended that an eye test is done by a registered, professional optometrist before embarking on a programme of wearing contact lenses since each individual eye has particular features which make generic lenses not fit for everyone. Also, buying contact lenses from non optometrists and dubious sources such as online, at parties or at flea markets or at beauty parlours is not only dangerous to your eyes and sight in general, but is also illegal according to the South African Optometric Association.

YouTube and other internet sources are awash with ideas and tips on how to use circle lenses and make up to recreate the Lady GaGa look and teenagers are especially vulnerable to falling prey to this fad. Dr Assumpta Madu, from New York’s Montefiore Medical Centre told the BBC that users could lose their sight within 24 hours according to both Gather and TheImproper’s entertainment and lifestyle correspondents. With such obvious danger being expressed by doctors overseas as well as in South Africa it is sad that many people are still not heeding the warnings. Lady GaGa herself had the benefit of digital enhancement in the Bad Romance video instead of putting her vision at risk through the use of Circle Lenses making the loss of vision through using unregulated and illegal contact lenses not only sad, but also unnecessary and completely avoidable.

According to Hannelie Booyens of You Magazine, if you are aware of the sale of illegal contact lenses, please contact the Health Professionals Council of South Africa (0123389301), the South African Optometric Association (0873107262) or Lucky Nkosi, the Ombudsman for Optometry (0726171124), and you could help save someone’s precious vision.