Party-goers at today's Eid celebrations in Glasgow will be given information and advice on eye-health by the country's leading sight loss charity, RNIB Scotland.
Eid marks the end of Ramadan, the four-week period of Islamic fasting and prayer, and today's celebration in Albert Drive in Glasgow is expected to attract hundreds of people from Scottish, Pakistani, African and Middle Eastern communities.
RNIB Scotland is exhibiting at the event in a bid to alert some ethnic groups that they may be more vulnerable to sight loss conditions such as cataracts, glaucoma and diabetes.
The charity is piloting a project in Glasgow, funded by the Scottish Government, to raise awareness of sight-threatening conditions and the need for regular eye-checks, which are free in Scotland.
The city's ethnic minority population is almost three times the national average, a figure likely to have increased with the number of asylum seekers now resident there.
Gozie Joe Adigwe, ethnic minority project development officer for RNIB Scotland, said: "This is the second year we have exhibited at this street celebration to give us direct contact with people from diverse communities.
"We will distribute Happy Eid cards and eye-health information to party-goers over the course of the day, as well as letting people know about RNIB and other services that make life easier for people with sight loss.
"Many of the people most at risk of losing their sight are least likely to access eye-care services. People of South Asian origin are six times more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than Caucasians. Those of African / Caribbean origin are three times more likely. Retinopathy, a complication of diabetes that affects the retina in the eye, is the single biggest cause of sight loss among Scots of working age.
"Meanwhile, some forms of glaucoma are more than three times more prevalent among people of Afro-Caribbean and Chinese descent, and are often more severe."
The RNIB Scotland project is aiming to map the prevalence of eye-conditions among those of South Asian, Chinese and Afro-Caribbean descent and examine what real, or perceived, barriers are preventing uptake of eye-care services. African and African / Caribbean communities are 20 per cent less likely to have had an eye examination than the rest of the population.
Gozie Joe Adigwe said: "There has never been a comprehensive analysis of eye health within the ethnic minority population in Scotland, so this project will be a significant first."
[Press Release issued 21 September 2009].