VISION 2020

OPTIMAX SHINES, THANKS TO A DYNAMIC FATHER-DAUGHTER LEADERSHIP

- ELLFIAN RAHIM

AS A VAST MAJORITY OF MALAYSIANS BECOME MORE AND MORE HEALTH CONSCIOUS, many, unfortunately, often still overlook the importance of caring for their eyes and the need for perfect vision.

Here are some sobering facts to ponder on: Just in 2018, the World Health Organization reports that myopia (where objects farther away from someone become out of focus and blurry) and high myopia is estimated to affect 27% and 2.8% of the world population) respectively.

The report further indicates that by 2050, the prevalence of myopia will be much higher in high-income regions of Southeast Asia. Coming even closer to home, it is also estimated that one in every 10 children in Malaysia suffers from some sort of undiagnosed vision impairment.

Then, there’s also the threat of cataracts, another leading cause of blindness worldwide. An estimated 30% of people over 65 are visually impaired due to cataracts in one or both eyes, and in Malaysia, some 44,534 cases were reported in a survey conducted by the Malaysian Ministry of Health in 2015.

Cataracts develop when eye lenses become cloudy. This is closely associated with advancing age, family history, poorly controlled diabetes mellitus, hypertension, obesity, smoking, prolonged steroid medication, severe shortsightedness, previous eye injury or inflammation.

Thankfully, this unfortunate state of affairs is rapidly changing as people from all walks of life here are opening up to the importance of proper eye care. And needless to say, the future of the eye care industry in this part of the world seems bright indeed! Case in point would be the rapid rise of the Optimax brand in Malaysia.