WORLD SIGHT DAY: TRUCK DRIVERS DO’S AND DONT’S TO AVOID EYE PROBLEMS

In our day to day life, we can see many people around us wearing glasses. Although we have accepted the use of glasses in general, eye problems are not something to be taken lightly at all. Uncorrected poor vision itself is a global health crisis and one of the largest disabilities in the world with 1 in 3 or 2.7 billion people suffering from it, 90% of whom live in developing countries like ours. [1] 

This second Thursday in October every year is World Sight Day, which is celebrated around the world to raise awareness about blindness and visual impairment in a global context. Celebration of this day first began in 2000 with the “Sight-First-Campaign” organized by Lions Clubs International in the United States.

The rate of eye problems is highest among the elderly, followed by drivers. According to a study, about 23% of drivers in the world suffer from eye problems that cannot be treated. In this case, the current situation of drivers in our country shows that more than 70.4% of the total drivers suffer from vision problems.[2][3]

Especially in our country, the rate of eye problems of truck drivers is the highest. According to a survey conducted in 2019, 73.3% of drivers suffer from problems in both of their eyes.  This is a matter of grave concern that 78.69 percent of drivers with eye problems do not wear glasses and only 3.69 percent use sunglasses.[4]

Due to eye problems, Drivers are facing myriads of problems such as not being able to read road signs, not being able to see well at night, but they are not realizing the need for medical treatment due to lack of awareness. 73.8 percent of drivers who suffer from eye problems have never received any treatment.[4]

In order to create awareness on this issue, last year on the occasion of Road Safety Day, “Truck Lagbe” and “2.5 New Vision Generation (2.5 NVG), Essilor’s inclusive business arm in Bangladesh” jointly organized a day-long ‘Free Eye Examination Program’. During the course of this program, it became clear how important it was to raise awareness regarding eye problems in the truck industry. About 68% of the truck drivers who participated in the program had eye problems and most of them had never received any treatment before.

During this program, we met Russell Bhai at Kalshi Truck Stand in Mirpur. This young man has been in the truck industry for only 1 year. In the meantime, he was suffering from eye problems. When we went to talk to him at that time, he said- “Brother, when I drive a truck, I don’t have access to any sort of protection, I stay on the road day and night, I get exposed to dust all day long. While driving at night, the headlights of vehicles ahead of me irritate my eyes. Police often flash laser light. In the midst of all this, we start suffering from eye problems.”

For drivers, these problems are a daily occurrence in our country, but drivers need to be aware of their eye care. Our advice for those in this profession is-

1. Use UV protected glass when driving a truck, you can get this glass by visiting any spectacles store

2. Give priority to vegetables and fish when eating

3. When driving on roads with excess dust and sand, keep the glass on both sides of the car closed.

4. Have regular eye examinations at least once a year. “Essilor’s 2.5 NVG” has more than 300 “Eye Mitro” points across the country where you can get an eye exam at an affordable cost if you want.

“Truck Lagbe” and “Essilor’s 2.5 NVG” are working together to raise awareness among truck drivers, and we will continue to work to address the eye problems of those involved in the truck industry. However, the most important thing to reduce this problem is awareness among truck owners and truck drivers. Truck owners in particular can play an important role in making their drivers aware of this, we believe that only a healthy driver can ensure safe movement of all on the road.

Reference:

1. Essilor International, Eliminating Uncorrected Poor Vision in a Generation. Essilor International. 2019 [1]

2. SHOCKING VISION STATISTICS [2]

3. গণপরিবহনের চালকদের চক্ষু পরীক্ষা নিশ্চিতের দাবি [3]

4. চোখের সমস্যায় দেশের ৭০ ভাগ গাড়ি চালক [4]