Al-Shifa Trust (AST) Eye Hospital President Major General (Retd) Rehmat Khan said on Monday that diabetes is increasingly common in Pakistan, which is one of the primary reasons for vision problems.
Recent reports indicate that one in four people in the country has diabetes and 25 percent of them do not know they have the problem, resulting in serious eye problems, he said.
Gene. (Retd) Rehmat Khan said diabetic retinopathy, a condition where the blood vessels in the retina of the eye are damaged, is on the rise.
In an interview with the media, he said that diabetic retinopathy is the most typical reason for vision problems. Finally losing sight.
Every day, hundreds of people in Pakistan also lose their sight due to avoidable conditions like cataracts, he added.
He said more than 2.6 million individuals suffer from preventable visual impairment and cataracts are a major contributor to preventing blindness in people aged 50 and over. About 42 percent of school-aged children suffer from disorders related to refractive errors.
Since the establishment of Al-Shifa Trust, 30 million people have been treated and 90,000 operations have been completed.
Nearly one million OPD patients are admitted in a month and ten thousand surgeries are performed monthly at the trust’s hospitals in Rawalpindi, Chakwal, Kohat, Muzaffarabad and Sukkar.
He said the scope of services would increase with the completion of the under-construction hospital in Gilgit-Baltistan and the new block at Chakwal Hospital.
Together with the Eye Bank, Light House, Research Center, Eye Cancer Center, Glaucoma, Retina and Pediatric Referral Services, AST operates the most modern pediatric eye hospital in Asia.
At its six facilities, AST offers all services to 80 percent of patients free of charge. It also runs the largest outreach program, setting up free eye camps across the country, especially in remote locations.
According to him, 70 percent of the Rs 4 billion annual cost is financed by donations.
The menace of blindness has spiraled out of control due to ignorance and lack of services at the district level. With the population now exceeding 250 million, a new study is also needed to assess the severity of the problem.
He said the World Health Organization or any other resourceful organization should be involved in this study.
A government-backed awareness campaign in schools and the media, along with diabetes treatment, can help reduce the number of people suffering from eye disorders, he said.
