As World Sight Day is observed across the globe, Dr Johan Da Silva and the Lion’s Club of Bel Air are reminding Guyanese of the importance of having regular eye check-ups and not waiting until something is wrong.
World Sight Day is an annual day of awareness, held on the second Thursday in October, to focus global attention on vision impairment, including blindness. This year, the theme is ‘Love Your Eyes’.
Da Silva, who runs Modern Optical Service, said the theme is very apt as persons must learn to love their eyes and have them checked regularly.
It is estimated that some 600 million people around the globe are functionally blind because they do not have access to eye exams and glasses.
“Of course if you are having any visual problems or you notice anything that is happening you don’t just ignore it—like what we would typically do here in Guyana, simply wait until it is the end of the rope before we can follow things up,” he said in an interview.
He stressed that it is always important to check and ensure there is nothing major happening as there are some eye conditions that can create a lot of issues and even blindness and persons do not realise what is happening but instead take things for granted.
Among the prevalent conditions he encounters he listed glaucoma, myopia and farsightedness, with the latter two affecting a lot of children as well. “Sometimes you think the child is just slow at what they are doing…,” he said, while adding that as people get older they have to look out for conditions such as glaucoma and cataracts and if they are diabetic or suffer from hypertension then they need to pay more attention to their eyes.
He said those two conditions, which are very common in Guyana, create other eye problems such as diabetic retinopathy, a potentially blinding condition, and hypertensive retinopathy which is also sight threatening.
The optometrist reminded Guyanese that their eyes are the windows to the world and so it is important that they take care of them as they do other parts of their body.
“Make sure if you have any issues with the eyes, don’t just ignore it, make sure you check on it, have regular eye checks [and] even if you don’t have an issue happening, have regular eye checks at least every two years,” he encouraged.
He also stressed that people have follow-up checks and not just take for granted that they have a condition and can live with it.
Da Silva has been practising since 2006 and he said it has been a joy working in the profession all those years.
One of the experiences that has stuck with him occurred in the initial stages of his practice when he met a little girl who suffered from myopia.
“The girl was about 12 years old so I recommended that we could get some assistance and I recommended the glasses,” he shared. He said that when she put them on for the first time, her words were, ‘Is this how everyone sees?’ “I think that was one of the things that said at that point you have made the right choice in this profession,” Dr Da Silva said.
He said the journey has had its ups and downs as he cannot always get the outcomes that he desires but “for the most part it has been wonderful, can’t complain”.
For him, the most painful experience is when he has to tell a patient there is nothing more he can do. “That is about the worst thing that could happen when you are looking after a patient and trying to solve the issues that are there with them…,” he said.
His choice of career was no surprise as his father is well known optometrist Dr Jose Da Silva, who has been in the profession for well over 45 years.
“So I think he was kind of my inspiration to get into the field and to be part of this service,” he said, before adding that he grew up visiting his father in his office and it made it very easy to enter the profession.
He is one of four children who are all doctors of optometry but he is the only one who practices in Guyana as his siblings practice in the US.
While he is not a member of the Lions Club, he works very closely with many of the sight programmes it convenes.
