By Philip Tengzu, GNA
Jirapa, (UW/R), March 18, GNA – Mr George Viidaa Kangwonuah, the Resident Ophthalmic Nurse at the St. Joseph’s Hospital in Jirapa, has expressed concern about the high number of glaucoma and cataract cases reported at the hospital’s eye clinic.
Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Jirapa, Mr Kangwonuah indicated that the facility had seen over 200 glaucoma cases over the past year, while over 400 cataract cases had been booked for surgery.
He said the alarming cases of eye conditions in the municipality required intensified public education and regular eye screening for early detection and treatment to prevent avoidable blindness.
Mr Kangwonuah described glaucoma as a “silent thief of sight” because it progressed gradually without obvious symptoms in the early stages, and many patients reported late for treatment at advanced stages of the condition.
Meanwhile, the 2026 World Glaucoma Week, on the theme “Uniting for a Glaucoma-Free World”, sought to rally communities, clinicians, and individuals to detect glaucoma early, treat it promptly, and eliminate preventable blindness.
Mr Kangwonuah, however, said cataract could be treated through surgery, but that the lack of an ophthalmologist at the facility and in the region in general was impeding prompt surgery service for people suffering from that condition.
“We have a lot of people in our communities who are having visual loss and cannot see well because of cataracts, but the challenge is that we don’t have the ophthalmologists who usually do the surgeries.
So, that is the problem for us, honestly, it is not only Jirapa, but the whole region, but people do not have to go blind from cataracts,” Mr Kangwonuah explained.
He also expressed concern about people’s negative health-seeking behaviours, which sometimes resulted in preventable sight loss because visual loss from glaucoma is irreversible.
“When you come, and you have already lost vision, we cannot restore it, that is why we always want to do early screening and identification, and if it is confirmed, then we’ll put you on the treatment to restore your vision”, the Ophthalmic Nurse added.
Mr Kangwonuah added that the clinic also recorded cases of refractive errors among school children, but that such cases were referred to specialised facilities for further care.
He advised the public to prioritise regular eye examinations even when they did not experience obvious symptoms because some eye diseases developed silently and could only be detected through screening or at advanced stages.
The Ophthalmic Nurse said early detection and treatment remained the most effective way to prevent avoidable blindness and protect vision.
GNA
Edited by Caesar Abagali/ Linda Asante Agyei