Govt urged to get ready to face emerging eye crisis

Rawalpindi:Approximately four per cent of the world’s blind live in Pakistan where almost 1.8 million people are blind while 21 million people are facing vision loss caused by common eye conditions such as cataracts, refractive errors, and Glaucoma.

President Al-Shifa Trust Major General (r) Rehmat Khan said this while talking to media men adding the situation is getting serious, therefore, the government must launch an ambitious plan to establish eye hospitals in every tehsil of the country. On Thursday, Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital said Pakistan’s population ranks fifth globally and will double by 2050 if appropriate health interventions are not implemented. At this rate, the number of people suffering from various eye problems will also rise, resulting in serious issues, added AST.

President AST stressed that it should be realized that our population can grow to 500 million by 2050, putting great stress on infrastructure and all services. Expressing concern over the growing number of eye diseases in Pakistan, he suggested that the government should establish state-run eye hospitals in every tehsil to provide eye treatment to patients who cannot afford costly private treatment. He said the government’s intervention is necessary as the private sector alone cannot cope with the problem at this level. He added Al-Shifa Trust has treated 27 million patients and conducted seven million eye surgeries in the last 30 years.

He added that the trust treats 2.5 million eye patients annually at its Rawalpindi, Chakwal, Kohat, Muzaffarabad, Sukkar, and Children’s Eye Hospital Rawalpindi, and 80 per cent of them are not charged. The trust also runs one of the best outreach programs to prevent blindness in the country, focusing on remote areas. This program includes school screening, free eye camps, awareness sessions, and primary eye care sessions, he informed. He said that the private sector lacks resources to cope with increasing numbers of eye patients, therefore, it is time to mobilize resources at the government level. Al-Shifa can train doctors and paramedics to support such initiatives, he offered.

Rehmat Khan said that ignorance and poverty prevent people from visiting doctors, and blindness is rising, especially among poor rural people. He said eye care facilities were primarily concentrated in big cities. There are no state-run eye care facilities in many districts and towns. It is need of the hour that every district and tehsil of the country must have a proper and well-equipped state-run hospital. He emphasized that considering financial constraints, we must be able to offer social and physical accessibility to eye care services. Most trained ophthalmologists work in urban areas at government or private clinics, making accessible and affordable eye care a concern in rural communities. He highlighted that our promotive, preventive, and curative eye services are inclusive and focus on women, children, and the elderly.

With 90 per cent of the world’s visually impaired living in developing countries, Pakistan is no exception to this ongoing global healthcare challenge. The combination of ageing, diabetes and a growing population has significantly increased the number of people with vision impairment. He said there is an enormous financial burden of vision impairment in countries such as Pakistan, which, despite making many advances in addressing eye conditions, cannot progress enough to keep pace with the growing population’s eye care needs.