SYDNEY -- 14 NOVEMBER 2016 -- The impact of diabetes on vision is the theme of 2016's World Diabetes Day.
Diabetic retinopathy is one possible co-morbidity of diabetes. A third of the 415 million adults living with diabetes around the world will develop diabetic retinopathy, and many of them will experience vision impairment and vision loss. Impaired vision and the loss of sight have profound psychological, social and economic impacts on many aspects of daily life, including driving, reading, detecting faces, employability, work-place safety, social interactions and connections, and also our core beliefs about who we are and what we can do.
Australia's Diabetes Map provides a geographic visualisation of diabetes prevalence, while the Diabetes: State of the Nation report tracks the country's progress against its National Diabetes Strategy, and finds that in Australia diabetes prevalence continued to "grow at an alarming scale" in the 12 months ending 30 June 2016.
Early detection is critically important, and optometrists are part of the primary health care vanguard responsible for early detection of diabetic retinopathy. Calabash Solutions is delighted to be working with its partners to develop resources that will help optometrists communicate better with their patients at risk of vision impairment and loss due to diabetes.