50% of cases merge with chronic diseases, the White Paper on Comprehensive Prevention and Treatment of Glaucoma is released: Glaucoma in China is becoming a younger system | Patients | China
Tomorrow is the 28th National Eye Care Day, and this year's theme is "Pay attention to universal eye health". Recently, guided by the Medical Affairs Department of the National Health Commission and the National Blindness Prevention Technology Guidance Group, and organized by the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission and the Shanghai Blindness Prevention Technology Guidance Group, the Shanghai Blindness Prevention Technology Guidance Group released the "White Paper on Comprehensive Prevention and Treatment Management of Glaucoma". The white paper shows that primary glaucoma is the main cause of glaucoma in China, and the disease is age-related but shows a trend of youthfulness, with no significant gender differences.
Glaucoma, as the world's first irreversible blinding eye disease, seriously impairs the visual function of patients. China is one of the countries with the highest number of blind and visually impaired patients in the world. The prevalence of glaucoma in the Chinese population is 2.58%, accounting for about a quarter of the world's glaucoma patients, and the number of blind people is 5.67 million.
Professor Sun Xinghuai, the appointed chairman of the Ophthalmology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association and the affiliated Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital of Fudan University, said that most cases of glaucoma are chronic and insidious, making early diagnosis difficult. At the same time, a large number of patients lack awareness of the disease, and two-thirds of glaucoma patients have already progressed to the middle and late stages at the initial diagnosis. The delayed diagnosis rate of glaucoma in developed countries reaches 50%, while in developing countries, the delayed diagnosis rate can reach 90%.
Exploring a comprehensive management model for glaucoma prevention and treatment that integrates prevention, screening, and management, the Shanghai Eye Disease Prevention and Treatment Center and Fudan University Affiliated Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital jointly initiated the project. Led by two experts, Professor Sun Xinghuai and Professor Zou Haidong, and in collaboration with clinical and public health experts from various regions across the country, the White Paper Project on Comprehensive Prevention and Treatment of Glaucoma was officially launched in June last year.
The survey lasted for 48 days and covered 33 hospitals in 6 provinces in the eastern, central, and western regions of China. The surveyed patients come from 27 provinces and municipalities across the country, with 130 cities/regions under their jurisdiction. A total of 1933 valid survey questionnaires were collected.
Research has found that primary glaucoma is the main type of glaucoma, and the disease is age-related but shows a trend towards younger age groups, with no significant gender differences. The proportion of comorbidities between glaucoma and other chronic diseases is high: 56.54% of glaucoma patients have other chronic diseases. It is of practical significance to incorporate glaucoma, hypertension and diabetes into physical examination and monitoring management, and to build a medical system that combines AI with medical union hierarchical diagnosis and treatment, which will help promote the sharing of medical and health resources.
The pressure on grassroots diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma is high, and the diagnostic and treatment capabilities and medical resources are insufficient. The burden of glaucoma disease and treatment is heavy, and patients need to improve their disease awareness, treatment compliance, and quality of life. Implementing community management for glaucoma patients can significantly improve follow-up compliance and patient quality of life.
Experts say that the diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma has always been a hot and difficult topic in the field of ophthalmology. Establishing a management model for chronic glaucoma patients, reducing the burden and disability rate of glaucoma, and continuously promoting the construction of ophthalmology related medical consortia should become a new model and trend for comprehensive prevention and treatment of glaucoma in China.
At the event, the Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital affiliated with Fudan University released a survey report on the prevention and control of myopia in children and adolescents in 2023. The results from multiple centers presented the current situation of myopia prevention and control knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors among parents from different regions in China, providing the latest data support for the deepening of myopia prevention and control scientific concepts in schools and families.
Fan Xianqun, Academician of the CAE Member, Vice President of Shanghai Jiaotong University, Dean of the School of Medicine of Shanghai Jiaotong University, Wang Ningli, Leader of the National Blindness Prevention Technical Steering Group, Sun Xinghuai, Candidate Chairman of the Ophthalmology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association, Professor of the Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, Zou Haidong, Director of the Shanghai Blindness Prevention Office, President of the Shanghai Eye Disease Prevention and Treatment Center, Zhou Xingtao, President of the Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, Vice President of the Ophthalmology and Optometry Hospital Affiliated to Wenzhou Medical University, and Chen Wei, President of the Ningbo Ophthalmology Hospital, six ophthalmologists' representatives sent out an initiative to care for children and adolescents, care for the eye health, cataracts, glaucoma, fundus diseases and other key eye diseases, promote appropriate technologies for eye disease prevention and treatment, publicize eye care science, and provide eye health throughout the life cycle.
More than 100 parent-child families participated in a fun eye friendly outdoor health run by the Huangpu River on the same day. Renowned ophthalmologists from more than ten municipal hospitals in Shanghai provided on-site free consultations for citizens.