FROM: MARCH 11 TO 14, 2025 WEEK OF THE FIGHT AGAINST GLAUCOMA
IN CLINIK OF OPHTHALMOLOGY, UKC KRAGUJEVAC,
SERBIA

Glaucoma is a common name for a group of eye diseases (optic neuropathy). It is a chronic, incurable disease, which can nevertheless be kept under control with regular monitoring and treatment. Glaucoma represents an unique, currently significant, social-health problem of all societies.
The doctors of the Clinic of ophthalmolody, University Medical Center Kragujevac, Serbia are joining, as in previous years, in the celebration of World Glaucoma Week in the period from March 9 to 15, 2025.
It is an opportunity to draw the attention of the public to the seriousness of this disease, which leads to blindness, if it is not diagnosed and treated on time, as well as to the risk factors for the occurrence of glaucoma, methods of prevention and treatment options. The action aims to recognize and acquaint the general population with the emphasized importance of regular, ophthalmological controls in the missions of preventing blindness, to which untreated and uncontrolled glaucoma surely leads.
The doctors of Clinic of ophthalmology, UKC Kragujevac, Serbia will perform preventive examinations from March 10 to 14, 2025, from 12:00 to 14:00 p.m. in both specialist eye clinics on the ground floor of UKC Kragujevac. Ophthalmologists will conduct an action to measure eye pressure and other necessary measures, for all interested citizens, without an appointment, without instructions and with an ID-card.
The aim of the action is an early detection (screening and prevention) of glaucoma, i.e. the disease of elevated eye pressure, detection of risk factors for the occurrence of glaucoma, so it is advised that first of all citizens who are over 40 years old, who have not had this type of examination before, who have a relative suffering from glaucoma, but also patients diagnosed with glaucoma. Also included are people who frequently change glasses, people who have thin corneas, myopics, diabetics, people with high or low blood pressure, and others.
In a large number of cases, there are no signs that warn us of the resulting glaucoma, but a latent, insidious disease. There is no method available today that reliably predicts glaucoma before the onset of the disease, and to date it has not even been diagnosed in the percentage in which it is actually present in the world and in our population.
Detailed examination of suspected glaucoma, or glaucoma? It is required as a first examination between the ages of 35 and 40, two to four times a year after the age of 40, one to two times a year after the age of 55, more often and/or individually.
The safe level of eye pressure is not the same for every individual or patient, but indicates an important guide to keep the disease under control, and that regular examinations by an ophthalmologist are necessary, even if the eye pressure has been successfully lowered with drugs, laser and/or surgery in the physiological range borders.
Preventive, regular and detailed examinations by an ophthalmologist, as well as this action, will help to detect the disease on time, keep it under control and treat it. Glaucoma therapy at the right moment aims to stop the disease at the developmental level, to keep eye pressure within physiological limits, to ultimately enable a good, better quality of life and prevent disabilities.
The weeks of the fight against glaucoma in Serbia stood out and were confirmed through many years of practice, profession and science, justifiably highlighting the public importance of the necessary knowledge and skills, which can be applied today in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma.
Successful cooperation between health care institutions and the media can be a useful way of increasing awareness and detecting individuals with an increased risk of developing glaucoma, as well as the necessary controls of already diagnosed glaucoma.

Results:
In the Week of the fight against Glaucoma in March, 2025, in Kragujevac, Serbia: 507 people were included, with 14 newly diagnosed glaucomas (all of them as Primary Open Angle Glaucoma).

21/03/2025
prof. dr Mirjana A. Janićijević Petrović, ophthalmologist
Clinic for Ophthalmology, UKC Kragujevac, Serbia
Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, Serbia