A new eye health initiative could save the sight of thousands of Brimbank residents.
The Vision 2020 initiative, launched by state health minister Jill Hennessy last week, will work alongside Brimbank health professionals over the next two years to reduce avoidable blindness and vision loss by raising awareness about the importance of regular eye tests.
Vision 2020 Australia chief executive Jennifer Gersbeck said Brimbank is a high risk area for blindness and vision loss.
“We know people who are over 40, have a family history of eye disease, people with diabetes, smokers and people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent have an increased risk of developing certain eye conditions, such as age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma or refractive error,” Ms Gersbeck said.
Health figures show one in five Brimbank residents has never had an eye test, and 40 per cent of residents aged 65 or more are not taking advantage of annual eye tests covered by Medicare.
“Brimbank’s high proportion of people with increased risk of eye disease, coupled with the number of people who are not getting regular eye tests, should ring alarm bells for the community,” Ms Gersbeck said
“The good news is that 75 per cent of vision loss is preventable or treatable.”
North Western Melbourne Primary Health Network chief executive Chris Carter said that the network’s role is to link GPs and referral services so that patients get ongoing support.
“It’s our role to help health professionals continue to improve their skills and make better use of computer-based prompting tools that help them identify a high-risk patient in need of regular eye assessments,” he said.
For information go online to www.visioninitiative.org.au
