Scotland

Vision strategy aims to tackle sight loss 'time bomb'

Summary: Scotland unveils its response to the global Vision 2020 initiative.

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A landmark five-year strategy to improve the eye-care of Scots will be launched in Holyrood today.

Health Minister Shona Robison has heralded the move as "the most concerted drive to safeguard eyesight ever undertaken in Scotland".

Although Scotland is already leading the way in many eye-care services, including free eye-examinations, a leading charity is warning that the country could still face a sight loss ‘time-bomb’.

The Royal National Institute of Blind People Scotland predicts that over the next 25 years the number of Scots with some degree of visual impairment will more than double to 400,000. This is partly due to an ageing population, but also to Scotland's persistently high rates of diabetes, obesity, smoking and poor health that are underlying causes of sight loss.

To meet this challenge, the new Scottish Vision Strategy is being launched at a meeting of the Cross Party Group on Visual Impairment today. As well as backbench MSPs, members of the group include RNIB Scotland, Guide Dogs for the Blind and Optometry Scotland. All are backing the strategy.

The strategy, drafted in response to a World Health Assembly Resolution, will aim to raise public awareness, especially among those most at risk of eye-disease. This will include targeted public health campaigns, earlier detection of sight-threatening conditions, and more integrated support for those with sight loss.

John Legg, director of RNIB Scotland, said: "The Scottish Vision Strategy signals our determination to work together to make a real and lasting difference to eye-health, and to improve the lives of those who have lost some or all of their sight. We have here a real opportunity to secure world class services over the next five years. International research has shown there is a four-fold return on investment in early eye-care intervention."

While Legg applauded much of what is already in place, he pointed to the particular problems Scotland faces.

By 2021, 40 per cent of the population will be over 50, and a significant proportion of sight loss is related to age. One in eight over-75s and one in three over-90s have serious sight loss.

Among working age adults, diabetic retinopathy is the biggest cause of sight loss. Around 193,000 Scots have diabetes, a figure increasing by roughly seven per cent annually. But one in five are unaware that sight loss is a complication of their condition. The lifetime cost to the state for a person who has lost sight due to retinopathy is estimated to be £237,000.

Smoking and obesity can double the probability of sight loss. Scotland has the second highest level of obesity in the developed world, while adult smoking rates remain higher than in England and Wales at around 27 per cent.

Shona Robison said: “Scotland has already made significant strides in this field, establishing a number of world-class services. The Scottish Government has undertaken a comprehensive review of eye-care services, introduced sight-screening for all four to five year-olds, introduced free eye-examinations for all, quickly approved new drugs for people with Age-Related Macular Degeneration, and provided an additional £10m for eye care services throughout Scotland.

“But too many people in Scotland are still not fully aware of the impact their lifestyles and health conditions can have on their sight, with too many suffering sight loss that could have been avoided through earlier detection or treatment. We need to ensure the right services are in place and there is a greater understanding of the need for emotional or practical support some need to deal with the trauma of losing their vision.

"This is the challenge that the Scottish Vision Strategy will address.”

Content author: ian.brown@rnib.org.uk

Last updated: 20/11/2008 11:13