By Nadia Sapuan
Pictures by Abd Raai Osman

CHERAS, 31 March 2017 – Glaucoma can cause eternal blindness in the eye and the disease is also known as a silent thief of sight.

UKM Medical Centre Department of Ophthalmology Head, Associate Prof. Dr Jemaima Che Hamzah said that glaucoma became known as the silent thief of sight because the symptoms are difficult to be identified at the early stage.

“Based on my experience, patients with glaucoma are unaware that they are suffering from this disease.

“That is why I encourage everybody to go for eye check up on a regular basis, in order to overcome this disease,” she said at the Opening Ceremony of World Glaucoma Week 2017, recently.

She said the rate of the patients that suffer from glaucoma, worldwide, is expected to increase to 76 million by 2020.

“Last year the rate of patients that suffer from glaucoma were 60 million and it is expected to grow every year,” she said.