Senile Maculopathy Prevention Campaign: Screening Starts

29 January marks the start of maculopathy prevention and diagnosis month throughout Italy

Under the patronage of the Ministry of Health, the SOI (Italian Ophthalmological Society) and the Municipality of Milan, the First National Campaign for the Prevention and Diagnosis of Maculopathy, promoted by the Centro Ambrosiano Ophthalmico (CAMO) and theSan Raffaele Hospital, Milan.
Supported by a panel of prestigious sponsors, which sees in the front row SIFI SpA, the Campaign starts on Monday 29 January and ends on Friday 23 February 2018. Twenty Centres (Hospital Presidia and University Clinics), distributed throughout the country, will take part in the initiative. Entire teams of specialists will be at the population's disposal for a free visit through which it will be possible to diagnose the presence of any form of maculopathy, and possibly suggest the appropriate therapies.
The Campaign is addressed to persons over 50 years of ageperiod of life when the first signs of the disease can usually appear.
Starting 22 January, to benefit from free screening, simply book your visit on the website www.maculopatie.com by choosing the nearest facility (a list of facilities is given at the bottom).
The initiative stems from the results of a nationwide demographic survey commissioned by the Dr Lucio Buratto, Scientific Director of the Centro Ambrosiano Ophthalmico (CAMO) and since Professor Francesco Bandello, Professor of Ophthalmology and Director of the Ophthalmology Clinic at the Vita-Salute University, San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milan.
Data showed that only 10 per cent of Italians have knowledge and awareness of the severity of maculopathy, whether due to age-related degeneration or diabetes.
In the long term, maculopathies lead to a severe reduction in visual capacity and severe distortion of vision that can severely impair the patient's quality of life, even leading to blindness. In its initial form, the disease presents itself without symptoms, which is why its early diagnosis is essential (for more details see http://maculopatie.com/maculopatia).
"Maculopathy is an exponentially increasing disorder - explains Professor Bandello - and in Italy there are now more than 1,400,000 people affected. What few people know is that the disease can be stopped by starting with a simple examination, OCT, which can diagnose it immediately. But it is essential to undergo this check-up before maculopathy progresses in its devastating action."
"The examination through which macular degeneration is diagnosed - concludes Dr Buratto - is non-invasive, lasts only a few minutes and has demonstrated extraordinary diagnostic effectiveness: it is a kind of CT scan of the eyeball. Moreover, the equipment available is among the most modern and sophisticated that scientific research has produced".
The initiative is promoted through a variety of national information channels (offline and online press, radio, advertising) and with the direct collaboration of major pharmacies in all cities where the screening centres are located.

SIFI actively supports this campaign as part of its ongoing commitment to support the ocular preventionwhich it combines with the offer of a complete range of supplements aimed at ensuring the correct nutritional intake, which is essential to ensure the retinal health.
Also for the treatment of Diabetic Macular Edema, a serious ocular complication of diabetes, which results in a progressive reduction of vision and can even lead to blindness, SIFI has promoted the introduction in Italy of a innovative drug based on fluocinolone acetonide.
It is a sustained, continuous-release micro-implant that ensures treatment efficacy for three years with a single intravitreal injection, improving quality of life and adherence to therapy in patients with chronic EMD, while minimising the risks associated with frequent intravitreal injections.

THE 20 SCREENING CENTRES WHERE YOU CAN UNDERGO FREE EXAMINATIONS
Reservations are required through www.maculopatie.com

Northern Italy
Milan
- Centro Ambrosiano Oftalmico (CAMO) - Piazza della Repubblica 21, Milan
- Ophthalmology Operating Unit IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital and Vita-Salute University - Via Olgettina 60, Milan
- University Eye Clinic Sacco Hospital - Via Giovanni Battista Grassi 74, Milan

Genoa
- Centre for Medical Retina and Maculopathies - Di.N.O.G.Mi. Eye Clinic
University of Genoa - Policlinico San Martino Hospital Viale Benedetto XV 5, Genoa

Legnano
Legnano Ophthalmology Operating Unit - Azienda Socio Sanitaria Territoriale (ASST) Ovest Milanese (West Milan Health Authority)
Via Papa Giovanni Paolo II C.P. 3, Legnano

Parma
Ophthalmology Complex Operative Unit - Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria di Parma - Via Gramsci 14, Parma

Udine
IEMO - European Institute of Ocular Microsurgery - Via M.A. Fiducio 8, Udine

Varese
Circolo Fondazione Macchi Hospital, Insubria University Eye Clinic - Viale Borri 57, Varese

Central Italy
Arezzo
Ophthalmology Division Arezzo Hospital - Via Pietro Nenni 20, Arezzo

Carrara
Maculopathies Centre of the Ophthalmology Unit of Carrara at the Monterosso Multi-specialist Centre - Piazza Sacco e Vanzetti 1, Carrara

Florence
Eye Clinic - Careggi University Hospital - Largo Brambilla 3, Florence

Rome
G. B. Bietti Foundation for Ophthalmology Rome - Via Livenza 3, Rome

Siena
University Eye Clinic of Siena - Policlinico Santa Maria alle Scotte - Viale Mario Bracci 16, Siena

Southern Italy
Bari
- Ophthalmology Division Hospital of Venus Bari - Via Ospedale di Venere 1, Carbonara di Bari
- University Ophthalmology Clinic Policlinico di Bari - Piazza Giulio Cesare 11, Bari

Chieti/Pescara  
Ophthalmology Clinic University 'G. d'Annunzio' Chieti - Pescara
National Centre for High Technology in Ophthalmology - Chieti Clinical Hospital - Via dei Vestini, Chieti

Taranto
Complex Structure of Ophthalmology, Local Health Authority of Taranto
Presidio Ospedaliero Centrale 'San Giuseppe Moscati' Hospital - Via per Martina Franca, Taranto

Tricase (Lecce)
Panico Hospital Ophthalmology Division - Via Pio X 4, Tricase (Lecce)

Islands
Catania
Maculopathy Centre Ophthalmology Clinic - A.O.U. Policlinico V. Emanuele - Via Santa Sofia 78, Catania

Sassari
University Eye Clinic of Sassari - Viale San Pietro, Sassari

Dr. Carmelo Chines
Direttore responsabile