iciHaiti - Health : Nearly 1% of the Haitian population is visually impaired or blind
In Haiti, there are nearly 100,000 visually impaired (partial or total blindness) or 1% of the population reveals Dr. Michel Péan, Coordinator of the Haitian Society for Help to the Blind (SHAA), who is concerned about the growing number of blind or visually impaired people in the country.
Michel Péan recalls that unoperated cataract and glaucoma are the main causes of visual impairment and blindness in Haiti and that these two causes are not incurable. He says that prevention is the best strategy to use against these conditions that can lead to blindness, but laments that only 30% of the population consults an ophthalmologist for lack of information on eye diseases and their consequences.
Faced with this dramatic situation, he encourages the National Committee for the Prevention of Blindness to review its strategy. Because, according to him, the population is little informed of the causes of the blindness. He hopes to raise awareness among the community about eye diseases in order to achieve a significant reduction in blindness in Haiti.
