Ahmadu in hospital recovering from the operation to treat his glaucoma. © Jenny Matthews / Sightsavers

Caught in Time

Glaucoma affects around 60 million people in both developed and developing countries, and is therefore a major cause of blindness, which, if caught early enough, can be prevented.

In Western countries, a glaucoma check is part of a routine eye test. In Asia and Africa, where eye tests are not as common, checking for glaucoma is more difficult, and is not likely to get picked up until it's reached a stage where it is much harder to treat.

Fifty-year-old Ahmadu Plufau from Kaduna State in Nigeria lost the sight in his left eye due to advanced glaucoma. Ahmadu, who lives with his wife and nine children, came to Sightsavers partner the Gambo Sawaba Hospital in Zaria City as he was experiencing a build up of pressure in his other eye. He feared that if he were to lose sight in this eye as well, he would have to give up his work as a tailor.

"I am really pleased that my eyesight has been saved and I can continue to support my family"

The pressure Ahmadu was experiencing was caused by clogged drainage channels within his eye. When this causes damage to the optic nerve, vision is lost. Glaucoma develops gradually, so many people don’t realise they have it.

Luckily Ahmadu’s condition was caught in time, and he underwent an operation to relieve the fluids in his eye.

After his operation he said “I feel better and the discomfort has gone. I’m really pleased that my eye sight has been saved and I can continue to support my family”.

Achievements

 

Working with our partners in 2010, we helped to:

• Protect over 23 million people against river blindness
• Perform over 270,000 sight-restoring cataract operations
• Treat over a million people with antibiotics for trachoma

Find Out More

 

Nigeria

Glaucoma