Sir,

We read with interest the article ‘Awareness and the use of nutritional supplementation for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) patients’ by Waisbourd et al.1 The authors reported that their ‘AMD patients lack knowledge about their own ocular disease.’ The authors, however, erroneously stated that ‘other studies conducted internationally demonstrated lack of awareness for this blinding disease among the general population with 9.2–30% who were not familiar with the disease.’1 In fact, only 9.2–30% were familiar with the condition as a cause for loss of vision.2, 3, 4

Singapore has been organising an AMD Awareness Week annually since 2005 in conjunction with AMD Alliance International, a global non-profit coalition of vision, research, and senior organisations working to raise awareness of AMD, its treatment and rehabilitation options, and the importance of early detection. During the AMD Awareness Week, numerous educational talks on AMD, patient support group meetings and eye screenings are conducted at a number of participating hospitals, community centres, libraries, private ophthalmology clinics, and optometry outlets across the country. Amsler charts are also displayed in many public places, and have included trains of the mass rapid transit system (Figure 1) and possibly the largest Amsler chart in the world on a commercial building (Figure 2). There is also publicity on AMD in the newspapers and on radio and television.

Figure 1
figure 1

An ‘AMD Awareness Week 2007’ campaign advertisement with an Amsler chart displayed in the mass rapid transit trains in Singapore.

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Figure 2
figure 2

A giant Amsler chart displayed on the facade of a commercial building in Singapore during the AMD Awareness Week 2007.

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While it is too early to tell if these efforts will bear fruit, it is hoped that such public health campaigns will go a long way to change the current state of affairs with regards to the awareness of AMD in the Singapore population.