MARCH 9-13, 2026.

GLAUCOMA WEEK

UNIVERSITY CLINICAL CENTRE (UKC), IN KRAGUJEVAC, SERBIA

Ophthalmologists in Clinic of Ophthalmology, UKC Kragujevac, Serbia, with the support of the Ministry of Health in the Republic of Serbia: join, as in previous years, the campaign to mark actions the World, and our Week of fighting against Glaucoma, in the period from March 9-13, 2026. Ophthalmologists of Clinic will perform preventive examinations from 12:00 to 14:00 in both specialist Eye clinics on the ground floor of UKC Kragujevac, Serbia. They will conduct an action of measuring eye pressure and necessary examinations, for all interested citizens, patients, without an appointment, without the referral, with an ID card. It is an opportunity to draw the attention of the public and individuals to the seriousness of Glaucoma, which leads to blindness if not diagnosed and treated in time, as well as to the risk factors for Glaucoma, the possibilities of diagnosis and treatment, and methods of prevention and screening.
Glaucoma is a common name for the group of eye diseases, as the optic neuropathy. A chronic, incurable disease that can be kept under control, with regular monitoring and good treatment. Glaucoma, today represents the unique, currently significant, social and health problem of all nations. International Glaucoma Weeks aim to recognize and familiarize the general population with the emphasized importance of regular, ophthalmological controls in the mission of preventing blindness, to which untreated and uncontrolled glaucoma certainly leads.

According to the World Health Organization, Glaucoma is the second most common cause of blindness in the world, affecting about 80 million people. There are over 118 million people at risk of developing glaucoma by 2040, of whom over four and a half million are blind. Over 50% of the population does not know they have glaucoma. In Serbia, over 150 000 people have this disease. About 2% of the population over 40 years of age develops primary open-angle glaucoma, POAG, while the percentage increases with age by 4%.
The goal of the actions is early detection – screening and prevention of Glaucoma, or elevated eye pressure, so it is recommended that citizens over 45 years of age, who have not yet had such an examination, who have relatives with glaucoma, and patients with already diagnosed glaucoma come.
This includes people who often change glasses, who have thin corneas, diabetics, people with high or low blood pressure, and others.
The first examination due to suspicion of Glaucoma is required between the ages of 35 and 40. Examinations two to four times a year after the age of 45, and one to two times a year after the age of 55, or more often individually.
In a large number of cases, there are no signs that warn us of the onset of Glaucoma, a latent and insidious disease. There is no available method today that reliably predicts glaucoma before the onset of the disease. Glaucoma is not diagnosed in the actual percentage in which it is present in the world and in our population.
Glaucoma therapy at the right time aims to stop the disease at the developmental level, to keep eye pressure within physiological limits, to enable a better quality of life and to prevent disabilities in people with Glaucoma.
This year, Glaucoma Week also includes early diagnosis of the disease, namely the examination of the thickness of the optic nerve fiber layer and the macular layer of retinal ganglion cells, as well as the central thickness of the cornea, using the optical coherence tomography method – OCT. Diagnostics primarily refers to newly discovered Glaucoma -23, the number of which is increasing linearly on an annual basis. Glaucoma Weeks in Serbia, including Kragujevac, have been confirmed through many years of practice, profession and science, and have justifiably highlighted the public importance of the necessary knowledge and skills that can be applied in screening, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of this disease.

The analysis of our results shows that 511 subjects with intraocular pressure measurements were included this year, 23 of whom were newly diagnosed with glaucoma, who were immediately subjected to further diagnostic and therapeutic treatment. Our population is getting older and sicker overall, which would justify the increase in newly discovered glaucomas with the equivalent number of total subjects this year, within the actions of the Week against Glaucoma.

Prof. dr. Mirjana A. Janićijević Petrović, ophthalmologist-glaucomatologist
Faculty of Medical Siences University of Kragujevac, Serbia,
Clinic of Ophthalmology University Clinical Centre of Kragujevac, Serbia