Too many Tasmanians are turning a blind eye to diabetes, with diabetic eye disease one of the leading causes of irreversible blindness.
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With more than half of Tasmanians living with diabetes not having regular eye health checks, a new program aimed at detecting eye problems early on, when they are treatable, has been welcomed by optometrists.
KeepSight has been developed by Diabetes Australia, in partnership with Specsavers, Vision 2020 Australia, and with funding from the Australian Government.
Through it, people registered with the National Diabetes Services Scheme will receive notifications of when they are due for an eye health check-up.
Specsavers Launceston Optometrist and co-owner Jeffrey Coulson said of the 5915 people living with diabetes in Bass, 2958 weren't having regular eye checks and 887 had already been diagnosed with a vision-threatening condition.
"There are people going blind who shouldn't be," he said.
"KeepSight is a huge step forward in the fight against diabetes-related blindness and will target those most at risk, in a systematic way to ensure people with diabetes are accessing eye checks for early detection and early treatment of problems."
Almost all cases of sight-threatening diabetic eye disease can be avoided by having regular eye checks, which are recommended every two years.
According to the NDSS, about 5.5 per cent, or about 29,000 Tasmanians, are living with diabetes, compared to the national average of 5.1 per cent.
On average, one in three people with diabetes will develop some form of diabetic eye disease.
However, optometrist Damon Hannay of Specsavers Launceston, said many people living with diabetes didn't even realise they needed to have their eyes checked regularly.
"Because so many people live with diabetes, there is definitely a level of complacency in Tasmania," he said.
"We would encourage everyone to have regular eye checks, but for someone living with diabetes it is that much more important, because of the greater risk of complications."
People living with diabetes can register for KeepSight here.