New Jersey Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired Provides Important Eye Screenings to Protect Vision
鈥淕laucoma Awareness Month serves as a cue to us all to protect our eyesight,鈥� said Commissioner Velez. 鈥淚n 2012, the department鈥檚 Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired conducted eye screenings for nearly 40,000 people, referring more than 6,000 of them for further evaluation because they had eye conditions that required treatment.鈥�
Glaucoma is an eye disease characterized by elevated fluid pressure in the eye, often nicknamed 鈥渢he sneak thief of sight,鈥� due to the absence of symptoms before significant damage to the optic nerve already has occurred.
鈥淲ith timely diagnosis and treatment, glaucoma does not have to result in blindness,鈥� said Vito DeSantis, Executive Director of the New Jersey Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired. 鈥淥ur agency works to reduce the incidence of blindness by providing eye screenings to detect glaucoma and other eye conditions in all 21 counties.鈥�
For more information on blindness prevention eye screenings and other services provided at no cost to New Jersey residents by the Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired, a division of the State Department of Human Services, call聽 toll free: 877-685-8878 or e-mail: AskCBVI@dhs.state.nj.us.
