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With blindness caused an estimated annual financial loss of Rs 50 billion to national economy, the government has evolved a comprehensive programme to eradicate blindness from the country. There are around 2 million blind people in the country out of which two third are women, said sources in Health Department while talking to Business Recorder, here on Tuesday.
According to them, the government is taking all out steps to bring colours to the life of people who were suffering from blindness. Under the national programme for prevention and control of blindness, seven centers of excellence and 20 tertiary care hospitals would be set up apart from establishing 105 eye care units at tehsil level. As many as 5,000 health care workers would be trained to enhance the capacity building for countrywide eye care programmes.
It may be mentioned that Pakistan falls into the World Health Organisation's 'most severe' category. Nearly two million people are needlessly blind in Pakistan, they are blind because they were unable to access the treatments which could have prevented or cured their loss of sight. Cataract is the most common cause of blindness in Pakistan and will remain the major thrust of Vision 2020 Pakistan, which aims to increase the cataract surgical rate to 3500 by the year 2020.
The sources maintained blindness caused an estimated annual financial loss of Rs 50 billion to national economy because those who suffered blindness could not properly use their abilities to their full potential.
The government is also taking steps to improve the health facilities at the government hospitals and new medical equipment, acquired recently, would help better diagnose and treat the vision related diseases, the sources said.
One-third of the world's blind, nearly 15 million, live in the countries of the Southeast Asia Region. The world over, every minute, 12 people become blind and four of them live in the Southeast Asia Region, said ophthalmologists while talking to this scribe.
According to them, in the world today, there are 200 million visually disabled people, and 45 million unable to move about without help. One-third of the world's blind, nearly 15 million, live in the countries of the Southeast Asia Region. The world over, every minute, 12 people become blind and four of them live in the Southeast Asia Region. Every year almost 10 million people in our region die without their sight are restored, most of them dying within ten years of becoming blind.
To a question, they said women are among the worst victims of blindness not because of biological differences but because of a discriminatory social fabric.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2006

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