Public unaware of risk

Thousands of people are unaware that glaucoma can cause vision loss despite the fear of blindness ranking higher than that of early death and heart disease, according to a global survey published this week.

The survey was published as part of the 'All Eyes on Glaucoma' campaign, an international initiative launched on Tuesday, backed by Pfizer Ophthalmics and supported by the World Glaucoma Association and the World Glaucoma Patient Association.

Nearly 5,000 people over the age of 40 from seven countries including the UK were interviewed for the survey which set out to investigate people's attitudes and behaviour towards eye care.

Findings revealed that 40 per cent of those surveyed were unaware that glaucoma is linked to blindness, even though it is the leading cause of sight loss world-wide. Moreover, over quarter of respondents over 40 did not know that glaucoma was an eye disease or understood the consequence of the disease.