Distinguished guests

Ladies and gentlemen

It gives me great pleasure to be here today at the opening of the Second National Eye Care Day. I am happy to see that there is even greater support for this community service event this year, as is evident from the growing list of participating organisations and sponsors. I note that this event has been jointly organised by the Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore Eye Foundation, Rotary Club of Singapore West, National Kidney Foundation, Diabetic Society of Singapore as well as the Singapore Life Art Society along with the participation from the ophthalmology departments of NUH and CGH.

It is important that community groups cooperate together and also work closely with healthcare institutions to utilise their different talents and strengths for the common good. The promotion of eye care in the community cannot be effectively carried out by ophthalmologists alone. It is heartening to see various organisations coming together, sharing manpower and expertise, giving financial sponsorship or support in kind, to make this a truly community based project.

The National Eye Care Day was inaugurated last year with the aim of increasing public awareness of common eye conditions such as myopia, cataracts and glaucoma. The National Eye Care Day also aims to promote the importance of good eye health.

With our rapidly ageing population, we would expect the incidence of cataracts and glaucoma to increase, as both are age-related disorders. Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness in Singapore. It is a silent disease and many patients are often unaware of its seriousness until it is very advanced. In a survey conducted in Singapore in 1997, as many as 4.8% of the population over 60 years of age were found to be affected by the disease. Cataracts and refractive errors are also common problems affecting vision in the elderly. They are often under-diagnosed because many people attribute it to the process of ageing. However, vision can be improved significantly with the correct management.

This year’s National Eye Care Day will give special emphasis to another very important eye disorder that is diabetic eye disease or Diabetic Retinopathy. Diabetic retinopathy has become a major cause of blindness in the developed world, including Singapore. Almost half (47%) of the reported cases of blindness in Singapore were attributed to diabetic retinopathy. The good news is that this blindness is preventable through early detection and timely treatment.

However, one challenge that we face in our population is that many people are unaware that they have diabetes. The Ministry of Health’s National Health Survey in 1998 found that 62% of diabetics were unaware of their condition. As diabetes may be undiagnosed for several years, vision damage due to diabetic retinopathy may be present by the time the condition is diagnosed. This problem is being addressed by the community screening programme for diabetes, hypertension and high blood cholesterol, conducted by the Health Promotion Board.

For those patients who already have diabetes, it is important that they have their eyes screened for diabetic retinopathy once a year. I am pleased to see that a diabetic eye-screening programme is already well established in government polyclinics. The Singapore National Eye Centre worked with the Ministry of Health to set up the screening programme in government polyclinics in the 1990s and trained polyclinic doctors in the reading and interpretation of retinal photographs. The initial success of the diabetic eye screening programme in Hougang Polyclinic led to the subsequent roll-out of the programme to nine other polyclinics.

To-date, more than 100,000 diabetic patients have had their eyes screened. One-in-five photographs had evidence of diabetic retinopathy and one-in-ten of the cases detected had sight-threatening conditions. This is one of the largest on-going diabetic eye-screening programmes in the world and it has received international attention. Opthalmologists from Singapore have been invited to present the Singapore experience at a number of international conferences, as an example of a highly cost-effective programme for the prevention of diabetic blindness.

There are more than 200,000 diabetics in Singapore. The campaign against blindness from diabetic eye disease through early detection and treatment, must go on until every diabetic who needs an eye examination has been reached. I am happy to be informed that the Singapore National Eye Centre plans to extend its diabetic eye-screening programme to private general practitioners under its new "Enhanced DR (Diabetic Retinopathy) Care Programme".

This programme aims to help general practitioners achieve better care of their patients with diabetic retinopathy. The programme will include dissemination of information and guidelines on the care of patients with diabetic retinopathy, posters and patient education leaflets to help doctors counsel their patients, retinal photography screening and reporting as well as training in the reading and interpretation of retinal photographs. General practitioners can also opt to receive retinal photographs and a report by a specialist via e-mail. Using a shared-care approach, the report will outline parameters for continuous monitoring and recommendations for follow-up action.

To conclude, let me once again congratulate the Singapore National Eye Centre and the various organisations for organising this successful event. I understand that a record 2,000 participants from 21 grassroots organisations such as community centres and community clubs island-wide, voluntary welfare organisations as well as members of public will be undergoing general and diabetic eye screenings. In addition, general health checks for diabetes will be conducted by the National Kidney Foundation and Diabetic Society of Singapore. A day-long programme of public talks, an art competition, games and quizzes have been organised to educate and create more awareness of eye health and preventive eye care. I would like to wish you every success in today's activities.

On this note, it is my pleasure to declare the 2^nd National Eye Care Day open.

Thank you.