According to the National Eye Health Survery 2016 (NEHS 2016), in 2014 the Australian government Department of Health has developed action plan to deal with vision lost called "National Framework for Action to Promote Eye Health and Prevent Avoidable Blindness and Vision Loss”, however, there is no up to date data, therefore the National Eye Health Survey 2016 has been initiated with collaboration between the Australian government, eye health centers, and private stakeholders.
NEHS 2016 said that "globally there are around 191 million people worldwide had visual impairment while over 32 million are blinded, but most surprisingly 80% of visual impairment of blindness were preventable."
New research from the Centre for Eye Health and Guide Dogs NSW/ACT has found that "every day there will be one Australian knows that someone they know or they love is losing their sight and by 2020 over half of a million Australian will be living with sight loss. What is more, a staggering 67% of those with vision impairment feel depressed due to discrimination, bullying and three quarters feel anxious in social situations and one in ten feel lonely every single day, moreover loss of vision also impact their employment. More importantly, 92% of those who experience sight loss wish that society could do more to recognize their daily struggle."
There are many causes that could lead to vision loss, says Michael Kalloniatis, director of the Centre for Eye Health.
Causes of vision impairment in Australia by 2020-Michael Kalloniatis CEO of the Centre for Eye Health-ABS-NEHS 2016 Source: ABS and NEHS 2016
It would be an uncorrected refractive error (long or short-sightedness), macular degeneration which is age related that our eyes can not see properly when we get older due to the central part of our eyes are not working properly, next is due to cataract or cloudy lens in our eyes, and also diabetic related, either type one or type two diabetes because of poor diets and lack of physical activities that could keep us healthy and protect our eyes."
"It is also due to the epidemic of obesity in western countries including Australia, says Kalloniatis, we may experience more diabetes which could lead to other chronic illness that is not good for our health and our eyes, because the blood sugar level or high blood pressure in blood vessels at the back of our eyes and or they could bleed at the back of our eyes which leads to vision impairment."
Listen more to vision loss assistance from the Guide Dog NSW/ACT here: https://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/services/embeds/audioplayer/0f6f5c87-06ea-4854-8396-3beb62ccd4f6
Though there are some evidences prove that too much screen time might lead to shortsightedness it cannot really tell if it create any trouble for our eyes, says Dr Kalloniatis; but evidence has shown that if children are encouraged to play outdoors, they would be less likely to experience myopia or short-shortsightedness.
Australia is a very sunny country especially the northern parts that is closer to the equator where there is more sunlight, care needs to be taken when outing. We may need to remember the slogan "Slip, slop, slap, slide and seek," which there are guidelines where we should wear hat, sun glass, sunscreen or finding shade in order to protect our eye health and prevent skin cancer.
"The most common sight loss is due to age-related which account for 250,000 Australian that have low vision or they are legally blind. The other half is due to unrelated refractive error or our eyes cannot focus on the light that we see in front of us which lead to short or long sights so people might need glasses so they can see clearer," says Michael Kalloniatis, CEO of Centre for Eye Health.
Therefore people need to see their general practitioners so they can get a referral to see an optometrist or see ophthalmologist which is eye specialist, the early the better if you have a family history of vision impairment.
