Vision is certainly one of the most dominant of our senses. Waking up in the morning ushers in our use of sight. Our daily activities, including our respective fitness routines depend heavily on our sense of sight.
According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 2.2 billion people around the world suffer from vision impairment. Half of them, according to a WHO report, do not receive the care they need for conditions like near and farsightedness, glaucoma and cataracts.
In the Philippines, The Department of Health (DOH) reported a high number of Filipinos with various eye conditions: 1.1 million with cataract, 400,000 with uncorrected error of refraction, almost 300,000 with glaucoma, and 200,000 with maculopathy.
Additionally, and this is quite alarming, is that there are over 4 million Filipinos living with undiagnosed eye problems that need to be addressed. An undiagnosed condition is a most dangerous one as it may lead to complications, and in extreme cases, cause blindness.
The DOH added that although the prevalence of bilateral blindness due to cataracts and errors of refraction has decreased in the past years, there are still thousands of Filipinos with moderate to severe vision impairment.
“We are fortunate that these diseases can be treated with surgery or prescription eyeglasses. These can also be easily prevented with regular consumption of vitamin A, injury prevention, and immunization for measles and rubella that cause vision impairment,” said Health Secretary Francisco Duque.
The good news is that in line with the Universal Health Care (UHC) law, the DOH is gearing toward providing comprehensive eye-care services, integrating eye care within local health systems, and responding to emerging eye diseases, such as diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma.
“Through the primary care provider network that will be institutionalized under UHC, we hope to bring easy access and seamless referral to ophthalmic units, comprehensive eye centers, and national ophthalmic specialty centers. These health facilities will be capacitated to deliver the appropriate eye-care services,” Duque explained.
Staying fit and healthy will most certainly include taking good care of our eyes, and making sure any vision related disease or condition is given immediate attention. Providing comprehensive eye-care services under the UHC once implemented will certainly make inroads toward the prevention of blindness in the Philippines.
Sport nutrition tidbits: Amway Philippines launched its first energy drink under its sports and nutrition brand, XS, a first among its direct-selling competitors. The zero-sugar, zero-carb energy drink contains only 10 calories (250 ml can) and is loaded with 50 milligrams of caffeine, six B-vitamins, L-Carnitine, L-Glutamine and Taurine. An energy drink such as this may be a good way to jump-start your workout on days that you need an extra kick of energy. This product though, will not be available in stores and may only be purchased exclusively from the network of Amway business owners worldwide.
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