There are 60 million people suffering from glaucoma in the world today. Of these, 10% (6 million) are blind. Half (3 million) were blinded from closed angle glaucoma. Of these 3 million, half (1.5 million) were blinded from acute primary closed angle glaucoma. The estimate is that these figures will increase in the coming years because of our ageing population.

Acute glaucoma is a condition of symptoms with the patients presenting with multiple, often dramatic, symptoms of sudden pain, headache, blurred vision and redness of the eye. These symptoms alert the patient to his own eye condition and because of this, the patient will seek medical attention. It is therefore extremely important not only to diagnose and treat acute glaucoma early and effectively, but to structure educational programs to ensure early diagnosis by doctors, healthcare workers, optometrists and the public emphasizing the symptoms of acute glaucoma. In this way many eyes can be saved from blindness. If diagnosis is made early and treatment is carried out effectively, blindness in the affected eye can be prevented. Just as important, a similar blindness of acute glaucoma in the fellow eye can be prevented if this eye is treated with laser iridotomy.

It is clear that acute primary closed angle glaucoma has become a major blinding condition we must address urgently.