A total of 7,742 people in the Ashanti Region were diagnosed with cataract, a defect that could cause blindness to the eye, in the first half of 2019.

Additionally, 5,094 people were diagnosed with glaucoma while 6,138 suffered refractive errors within the same period.

Dr Joyce Tiweh, the Regional Ophthalmologist, who disclosed this, said those defects remained the common causes of blindness among people in the Region.

Speaking at a durbar to mark this year’s World Sight Day at Kodie in the Afigya-Kwabre South District, she said cataract contributed to about 54.8 per cent to blindness in Ghana while glaucoma and cornea related diseases contributed 19.4 and 11.2 per cent respectively.

The celebration, which was on the theme: “Universal Eye Health: Vision First, Women Leading Eye Health,” coincided with a free eye screening exercise conducted by Orbis International, a Non-Governmental Organisation, fighting blindness and vision loss, for members of the community.

Dr Tiweh pointed out that treatment for cataract was a safe and simple surgical procedure and urged everybody to seek early treatment for all abnormalities in the eye.

She said more than 75 per cent of all visual impairment was avoidable and urged people to adopt lifestyles that were eye conscious, such as wearing protective glasses when working in dusty areas or when exposing the eye to light rays from the sun and computers.

Dr Tiweh said glaucoma was the number one cause of irreversible blindness, and advised people who were 40 years and above to do frequent eye checks since the early stages were asymptomatic.