One child loses sight in every minute:Experts

Lahore: Al Shifa Trust Eye Hospital President General (retd) Hamid Javed in Saturday, termed lack of knowledge about the eye related disease as main reason for spreading blindness both among the children and young people.

As per findings of our survey, 85% people who lost their eyesight due to some diseases were curable, but people prone to these diseases were not well informed about the possible cure centres or hospitals, General( r) Hamid Javed said while addressing the concluding session of one-day seminar on Paediatric Ophthalmology here at the hospital.

The seminar was held to mark the ongoing Silver Jubilee Celebrations of Al Shifa Eye Hospital. A large number of foreign and local ophthalmologists and experts took active part in the seminar and shared their expertise and experiences.

General Hamid Javed said that it was matter of grave concern as number of people prone to eye related diseases was increasing day by day while globally one child lose eyesight in every minute while the ratio in Pakistan is alarming as five hundred thousand children are blind.

As per a careful assessment, percentage of blind people makes up almost one percent of total population of Pakistan, thus people falling between one hundred thousand to two hundred thousands have either become blind or moving towards blindness,” he observed.   

Moreover, according to survey conducted in schools in the twin cities, almost ten percent children were found with eye related diseases, he added.

He went on to say that in a bid to meet future requirements of ever-increasing number of eye patients, Al Shifa Eye Hospital was going to take first ever initiative in country’s history by establishing a children eye hospital with an estimated cost of Rs 1 billion.

Ground breaking ceremony of the facility will be held on April 06, he informed adding that this facility would further inspire other organizations also to establish children specific eye hospitals.

Lauding Dr. Sorath Noorani Siddiqui and her team for organizing such a wonderful seminar, he added that informative and knowledge oriented presentations were presented before the participants.

We will double the capacity in one year as the number of children with eye problems is increasing in Pakistan which can be attributed to the increase in pollution, allergies, unhygienic conditions, and general lack of awareness, he added.

He said that only a specialized doctor can check a child and very special equipment is required for screening premature babies, he said, adding that it is easy to cure eye disease in childhood rather to wait and let it grow to a complicated level.

At the conclusion of seminar, shields and certificates were awarded to the lead experts as well as participants.