It is a matter of great concern that blindness is on the rise all over the world. What is more worrisome to note is that 90 percent of the world’s total blind lives in developing countries. Pakistan is one of the worst affected countries in the world which has, hitherto, failed to take emergent measures to effectively combat this, otherwise, curable disease. According to the National Blindness Prevalence Survey 2006, the magnitude of blindness in Pakistan is estimated at 1.49 to 1.54 million people. Similarly, eight million adult and three million children are suffering from various forms of visual impairment. The survey also disclosed that approximately 70 percent of the people affected by the blindness live in remote areas and therefore, are quite unable to travel to nearby big cities where the majority of medical services are located.
Due to the lack of necessary infrastructure, coupled with not so latest medical technology at tehsil and district level hospitals, poorly maintained equipments and absence of credible referral chain system along-with lack of motivation, advocacy, awareness or monitoring & evaluation system, have played role in compounding the problem of blindness in our country. Still, another cause of high prevalence is that there is no system for the prioritization of need, whether it is sufferers from glaucoma, cataracts or diabetes-related blindness. In this situation, responsibility of the public sector, especially the medical community, increases manifold. This alarming situation requires consistent efforts to curb this threat so that the affected people could see this beautiful world with open eyes.
It is, however, a matter of some consolation that more than 80 percent of the blindness is either preventable or curable. Therefore, medical fraternity should join hands with the government sector to help treat this disease. It is important to note that blindness is mostly associated with poverty in Pakistan; lower access to eye care services is a major contributory factor. To reduce blindness, targeting poor people is needed to change their food habits and life style. Any effort of poverty alleviation will, in a way, also help to improve general health of the hoi polloi. These interventions, if implemented well, will have a definite impact on health related deprivations in our country where continued load shedding and a sagging economy have rendered millions of people jobless and hopeless.
In Punjab, the collaborate efforts of College of Ophthalmology & Allied Vision Sciences, King Edward Medical University, Lahore and international donors are excellent example of sharing the collective responsibility. World renowned donors like Fred Hollows Foundation (Australia) and Sight Savers International, UK are playing a commendable role in this crusade to reach out to the unreachable. It is important to point out that Pakistan government prepared the first National Plan for the Prevention & Control of Blindness in 2005 together with the international donors. It was the first serious and planned study of the problem in this country where blindness is usually ignored by the society.
It is important to note that the International donors have lent a commendable hand in fighting this disease in Pakistan. Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) has funded the FHF to launch and implement Pakistan Australia District Eye Care (PADEC) Project from 2002 to 2007 and 2007 to 2012. Under the project, necessary equipments and trainings were imparted to district eye care units. Australian Government helped in delivering a five year Pakistan-Australia Sub-specialty Eye Care (PASEC) Project in 2009. It also gave necessary assistance and technical support in the up-gradation of eye units of DHQ hospitals, human resource management in eye care and disease control projects in other health sectors in the province of Punjab in recent years. Fred Hollows Foundation and Australian Government have donated intraocular kits for free cataract surgery at district level. It is heartening to point out that Fred Hollows Foundation is continuously helping in redressing this imbalance across all the four provinces of the country. Similarly, UK based Sight Savers International has established Low Vision Clinic at the Eye Department of DHQ Hospital, Rawalpindi. There is a need that eye care training should be provided to primary healthcare staff, particularly community health workers to identify and timely refer persons with cataract and other causes of visual impairment to hospitals for proper treatment.
Fight against blindness is a continuous effort which requires participation of all segments of society. Corporate and development sectors should also come forward to help cure blindness. The society can jointly make this world a beautiful place for the hapless people who cannot see it. Similarly, Ulema and the religious scholars should also sensitize the people about eye donations in the light of Islamic injunctions. The media should sensitize the people about eye-donations so that he blind around us could see this beautiful world. We need to learn from a small developing country like Sri Lanka who is the biggest eye-donor in the world. It provides gratis eye donations to as many as 57 countries of the world including Pakistan.
If we view this issue from the philosophical side, then it can be assumed that there are two types of blindness in any given society; only the number varies. One, those who cannot see due to some defect in their eyes and the others who refuse to see despite perfectly normal eyesight- refusing to recognize the obvious realities of life. The same can be said about nations; those who open their eyes and work hard, move along with the changing times, and those who close their eyes to bitter realities, lag far behind in the comity of nations. Therefore, our national leaders should keep their eyes open to face continuing challenges of terrorism, poverty and socio-economic imbalances at the grassroots
