IPOH: The blindness rates amongst Malaysians aged 50 and above in the Northern Zone has shown a drop from 1.5% in 2014 to 0.7% in 2025, says Health Ministry Director of Medical Development Division Datuk Dr Mohd Azman Yacob.
Dr Azman said that the Northern Zone comprises states such as Perak, Penang, Kedah and Perlis.
The data was obtained following the National Eye Survey IV (NES IV) 2025.
"Diabetic retinopathy, an eye complication caused by diabetes, has now emerged as a major cause of blindness in Malaysia.
"Stronger collaboration between ophthalmology and public health disciplines is crucial for early detection and referral of diabetic retinopathy cases," he said in his speech at the World Sight Day 2025 Celebrations today (Oct 9).
He added that data from NES IV also revealed that moderate visual impairment increased from 6.3% in 2014 to 6.8% in 2025, mainly due to uncorrected refractive errors (poor vision caused by the need for glasses).
He also emphasised the importance of glaucoma screening, a leading cause of irreversible blindness and said the ministry is in efforts to expand glaucoma services to all states.
Dr Azman said that the ministry welcomes WHO's recommendations on the MySPECS project, in collaboration with NGOs and ministries to provide vision screening for schoolchildren and communities as well as improve access to affordable spectacles across all groups.
State Health director Dr Feisul Idzwan Mustapha added that the state faces an ageing population, with Ipoh and Taiping often called retirement towns, growing ophthalmology services demand for eye care.
"At Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun (HRPB) in Ipoh, over 3,598 cataract surgeries and 73,000 outpatient visits are recorded annually amongst the highest in Malaysia," he said.
To manage the high caseload, he said that non-complex cataract cases have been decanted to Hospital Sungai Siput, allowing HRPB to focus on complex cases whilst reducing waiting times.
He added that in Malaysia, NES II (2014) reported that the blindness rate amongst adults aged 50 and above was 1.2%, with untreated cataract (58.6%) as the main cause, followed by diabetic retinopathy (10.4%).
Encouragingly, NES IV (2025) data shows that blindness rates in the Northern Zone have dropped, attributed to continuous outreach efforts such as the KK-KKM Cataract Surgical Outreach Project.
However, Dr Feisul said that the rise in diabetic retinopathy presents a new challenge, in line with Malaysia's growing non-communicable disease (NCD) burden.
He also stressed on three key priorities moving forward, namely prevention first where diabetes must be effectively managed as diabetic retinopathy cases continue to rise.
"Next is improving access where the expansion of fundus cameras and AI-based screening tools such as DR.MATA to rural clinics.
"Moreover, the cross-sector collaboration where the government, private sector, NGOs and community must work together to ensure no Malaysian loses sight due to preventable or treatable eye diseases," he added.
