News Report
RAWALPINDI : President Al-Shifa Trust General (r) Rehmat Khan on Friday said according to World Health Organisation, 2.2 billion people around the world live with vision impairment or blindness of which one billion people have conditions that could have been prevented.
He said that almost two million people were prone to eye-related diseases in Pakistan while eighty per cent of them could be cured with timely intervention.
Briefing media on World Sight Day, a global event meant to draw attention to blindness and vision impairment, he said that one of the major obstacles in providing eye care to the needy is the lack of the required facilities.
General (r) Rehmat Khan said that we need to accelerate efforts to ensure that everyone, everywhere has equitable access to high-quality and comprehensive eye health services.
He added that Al-Shifa is trying its best to serve as many patients as possible with a focus on children. He said that we have organized awareness talks and hospital activities in this regard.
Prof. Dr. Tayyab Afghani, senior consultant, and HoD Orbit and Oculoplastics at Al-Shifa also spoke on the occasion and raised awareness about eye care in various age groups.
He informed that the prevalence of blindness in Pakistan is mostly related to an increase in population and delays on the part of patients and their families to consult a doctor.
The ophthalmologists in the awareness session advised the parents to ensure timely eye checkups of their kids. If a child complains of headaches and watery eyes, there is a high likelihood that he suffers from poor eyesight. Parents must not delay consultations with a paediatrics eye specialist. The doctors also discussed the effects of diabetes on the eyes and advised the patients to have their eye checkups by vitreo-retina specialists.
