More sufferers of chronic diseases with severe eye problems since COVID-19

he Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) is seeing more cases of severe eye conditions among individuals with chronic illnesses because they did not receive regular treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic, the hospital’s chief of eye surgery revealed on Thursday.

At the hospital’s ophthalmology department’s observance of World Sight Day, the head of ophthalmology Dr Trevor Drakes noted that the pandemic had a significant impact on patients’ health, with many forgoing regular treatment for chronic conditions, resulting in the deterioration of their eye health.

“From a hospital perspective, what we have been seeing is that unfortunately, during the COVID pandemic, a lot of people who had chronic diseases, a lot of those chronic diseases went out of control. As a result, we are actually seeing a lot of those individuals who are now presenting with severe eye problems which they probably should not be presenting with,” he said.

He further highlighted that the increased use of screens during and after the pandemic could have also contributed to eye health issues.

“We know during COVID, the world became much closer; our worlds were now on screen, teachings happened on screens [and] our meetings happened on screens,” he said. “As a result, we have had a lot more problems with tiredness, fatigue etc. and that is because we spent long times on our devices.”

Offering a simple remedy, Dr Drakes advised the public to follow the “20/20 rule”: take a 20-second break every 20 minutes to relax the eyes by looking into the distance. He cautioned that switching between devices, such as from a computer to a phone, does not constitute a real break.

Dr Drakes also urged Barbadians to take their eye health seriously, especially in the post-pandemic context.

As part of the World Sight Day event, several secondary school students were given the chance to tour the ophthalmology department and interact with some of the country’s leading eye specialists who provided insights into vision care and the importance of maintaining eye health. The theme for the event was Children, Love Your Eyes.

QEH’s Chief Executive Officer Neil Clark announced the hospital is currently expanding its ophthalmology department.

“We are making further investments in the ophthalmology department,” he told reporters. “We are currently out to tender to replace the roofs on the top to open up three additional theatres for the ophthalmology services and increase our capacity for the patients and residents of Barbados.”

(SB)