Television sets, smart phones causing Ugandans eye problems– MoH official

Long hours of watching television and looking at smart phones in darkness is having drastic effects on the eye health of several Ugandans, an official at the Ministry of Health has said.
According to Dr Charles Olaro, the director Curative Services at the Ministry, watching TV and looking into smart phones from short distances and dark places strains the eyes.
"TV has effects on eyes and in Uganda, 2.6 million people have visual challenges and 56 percent of the blindness is due to cataracts which can be operated and you can see," he said.

He said cataracts maybe be congenital or due to ageing and some eye disorders can be corrected using refraction if the person buys the correct lenses from genuine dealers of medical spectacles because some sell spectacles without measuring the eye defects of the patients which worsens the eye conditions.
His comment on Saturday comes hours after Optica Ltd, one of the largest optical retail company in East and Central Africa which has been based in Kenya since 1956, opened two branches in Kampala on Friday.

While opening their branches at Acacia Mall (and also Arena Mall) on Friday morning, Mr Raghav Moudgill, the company chief executive officer said due to the increased exposure to light from LED bulbs, television screen, mobile phones, many people are having eye problems.

“But for those who need right lenses for their eyesight we can provide. We are the authorized distributors of Rayban, Oakley, Tommy Hilfiger, Hugo Boss, Carrera, Tom Ford, Emporio, Armani, Silhouette, Jimmy Choo and many others. We also have our own house brands like Oxygene, Optica and Cactus with Oxygene starting from Shs 29,000. Most importantly even this product comes with 1 year warranty against manufacturing defects,” he said.