Listen to “Eye Health and Sustainability” on Spreaker.Environmental sustainability is also important for eye health. Pollution and poverty are in fact decisive in the development of visual diseases. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over a billion people in the world suffer from avoidable blindness, a condition so defined because it is due to diseases such as cataracts, retinopathy, diabetic macular edema or glaucoma which, if diagnosed and treated appropriately, can reduce visual impairment which, alone, increases the risk of mortality by up to 2.6 times and costs the global economy $411 billion per year in lost productivity alone. The seventh episode is dedicated to these themes, entitled ‘Eye health and sustainability’, of ‘Listen and you will see’, the podcast of L’Oculista Italiano to promote and support the well-being of vision and learn to know and protect our eyes .
As the narrator reminds us, people who live in urban areas are 50% more likely to develop glaucoma than those who live in rural areas. The presence of pollutants in the air we breathe, in fact, can have deleterious effects, especially if we consider those particles whose size is small enough to penetrate the respiratory system. In particular, a recent study published in Nature’s ‘Scientific Reports’ demonstrates that PM2.5 particulate matter, by altering the structure and stability of the tear film, favors the onset of dry eye syndrome. Furthermore, 90% of vision loss – recalls the podcast just published – occurs in low- and middle-income countries, with the poor and the extreme poor falling further behind. And WHO data confirms that women, children, elderly people, people with disabilities, indigenous populations, local communities, refugees, internally displaced persons and migrants are those most affected by vision problems.
At an international level, something is moving. Eye health has been on the United Nations (UN) Agenda since 2015 and ‘Vision for Everyone’ of 2021 is the body’s resolution which provides for the creation of the connection between care and protection of sight, as well as achieving more half of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Companies can also do their part to carry forward the United Nations program, improving their surroundings, in the name of sustainability, as Sifi did, which contributed to the creation of the podcast. The headquarters of the multinational pharmaceutical company specializing in eye health is immersed in the beauty of the Sicilian natural park of Etna, where it lives in symbiosis and with the utmost respect for the territory.
In 2013 the company – says the podcast – began a process of energy efficiency of the production plant through various initiatives, including the installation of a 60 kW photovoltaic system and obtained the ISO 14001 Environmental Management Certification, renewed in 2022 The project for a waste water recycling plant to be built in the green area, in the company’s multi-service building, which houses the ‘wellness center’ and the nursery school, is also underway. From an analysis carried out in 2022, it was possible to estimate that the trees planted by the company made it possible to retain and trap approximately 4 tonnes of Co2 annually. “To understand what the actual impact of this data is on the environment – underlines Carmelo Chines, Global Operations Director of Sifi – it must be considered that this amount of Co2 subtracted is equivalent to the annual emissions of 14.4 plug-in hybrid cars”.
Of course, there is still a lot to do for health, including eye health. In this regard, many useful tips and suggestions can be found in ‘Listen and you will see’ the podcast of the Italian Ophthalmologist present on the platforms – Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker – and on oculistaitaliano.it, where others can also be found insights and updates.
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