Sassari. This morning (Friday 3 May), in the headquarters of the Territorial Section of the Italian Union of the Blind and Visually Impaired of Sassari (Uici) in via Quarto 3, the Social Eye Center was inaugurated, a support structure created by the Uici together with the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (Iapb). The objective is to provide support to the public health system, promoting screening campaigns aimed in particular at the weakest and most disadvantaged sections of the population who have increasing difficulty in resorting to specialist consultancy. The project, born at a national level, will allow users to obtain an immediate understanding and evaluation of the state of their eyes thanks to a free screening. The structure uses the most modern outpatient equipment and will allow low vision prevention and rehabilitation activities to be carried out through the work of qualified ophthalmologists and orthoptists. This will favor the early diagnosis of the main ophthalmic pathologies such as retinitis, maculopathy and glaucoma.
«In the Center – explains the territorial president of the UICI Franco Santoro – the staff of our associations will be involved together with ophthalmologists and vision operators. The emergence of new forms of economic hardship makes it necessary to promote these strategic action measures to combat poverty, social exclusion and support the most vulnerable, who alone would not be able to guarantee their right to health. Given that the portion of the population affected by visual impairment is rapidly growing, it could greatly benefit from visual rehabilitation paths in terms of acquiring their autonomy. It is crucial to encourage the increase in prevention and primary care centers and rehabilitation centers, also to avoid being caught unprepared by the 25 percent increase in visually impaired people, as reported by the estimates on low vision for the next 10 years” .
