Awareness and Treatment of Presbyopia and Other Visual Impairment in Recent Ethiopian Immigrants to Israel

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that although health services are provided for the new Ethiopian immigrants, just as they are for all Israeli citizens, vision health is not being adequately provided for them due to pre-existing deficiency in knowledge and awareness of the range of vision problems. The study focuses on the expected vision problems of adults over 40 years old, in particular presbyopia. Through a survey of two groups of 30 adults each, all aged 40 and above, the attitudes and vision heath history of recent Ethiopian immigrants was compared to that of adults who grew up in Israel. The results show a profound gap in eye examination history and methods, perception of what constitutes vision problems that necessitate correction, prescription and accessibility of glasses, and global understanding and expectations regarding eye care and health. This gap demonstrates the need for medical eye services to be explained to these new immigrants and be made easily accessible in order for their eye care to be at the same standard as people who have been living in Israel for a long period of time. This would include vision screenings performed as a matter of course for all Ethiopian immigrants of any age, as part of the other basic health services already provided by the Israeli government upon arrival.