Chaired by MK Moshe Sharoni of the Pensioners Party, the Knesset committee heard testimony this week by one of Israel's leading ophthalmologists regarding the disease. Dr. Dov Weinberger, head of the Ophthalmology Department at Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikvah, told the committee that one-sixth of those over age 55 have AMD, and that in 20% of these cases, it leads to blindness.
Weinberger said that most of those afflicted with AMD - age-related macular degeneration - are treated with two medicines that are not included in the subsidized basket of medicines, and are thus very expensive.
AMD is also the number-one cause of blindness among adults over age 50 in the US. Recent medical studies have found that Lucentis (ranibizumab), an antibody designed to inhibit a protein that plays a role in the formation of new blood vessels, can help prevent vision loss from one type of AMD - albeit the less frequent type.
Dr. Weinberger said that Lucentis is in the process of being registered in Israel, "but it is very expensive - some $1,500 a month. If it is approved for use in Israel, but is not included in the medicine basket, most of those with AMD will have great difficulty obtaining it."
Yossi Kursiyeh, the director of the Welfare Ministry's Sightless Services department, reported that some 26,000 people in Israel are legally blind, and that 25% of them suffer from AMD. In recent years, he said, some 2,000 more people are added to the sightless rolls - about of third of whom have AMD.
AMD occurs when the macula - a small area at the center of the retina, the tissue that converts light into images - becomes damaged, either by general deterioration or when new blood vessels grow behind the retina.
Committee Chairman Sharoni summed up the session by expressing concern at the gap between the awareness of the disease and its high rate of frequency. He called upon the Health Ministry and the Sick Funds to work to increase awareness of AMD among those 50 and older, and to recommend annual vision checks to enable early diagnosis and prevention of blindness.