Jakarta (ANTARA) - Chairperson of the Indonesian Ophthalmologist Association Muhammad Sidik has projected the level of blindness and visual impairment among Indonesians to increase amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The COVID-19 restrictions hinder residents with sight problems from getting their eyes examined at an ophthalmologist, and the blindness rate will likely increase this year," he stated at a press conference to commemorate 2021 World Sight Day that was viewed from Jakarta on Tuesday.
Limited access to eye doctors coupled with movement restrictions to contain the spread of COVID-19 infection are factors that hindered patients from accessing proper eye disease treatment, he said.
Fatigue-induced sight issues, undetected eye refraction problems, and degenerative factors might also cause the blindness rate to increase in the country, Sidik noted.
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"The current sight issue is not only caused by cataract or eye refraction problem but also by degenerative factors due to increasing human longevity," he pointed out.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, eyesight problems caused by degenerative factors, such as diabetes mellitus or eye retina disease were seldom detected, yet after the COVID-19 pandemic, sight issues caused by glaucoma -- visual nerve damage due to pressure in the eyeball -- are increasing, the chairperson pointed out.
Sidik warned unaddressed sight issues and blindness cases may affect the quality of Indonesian human resources and cause economic losses due to the increasing visual impairment rate.
He suggested relevant authorities and actors to be on the same page regarding sight issues and blindness prevention to ensure apposite handling after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Relevant stakeholders and authorities should harbor the same understanding on this issue to properly handle residents with sight issues," Sidik emphasized.
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