Nearly 0.5 Million Pakistani Women Suffer From Blindness or Other Visual Impairments
According to a top official of Pakistan’s most renowned eye hospital, about half a million women are blind or have vision impairments. The official called on the government to establish additional facilities to treat these patients. Brig. (retired) Professor Dr. Sabihuddin, the director of the cataract department of Pakistan’s Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital, said this. One of Pakistan’s most well-known eye hospitals is AST.
During an event held in Islamabad to commemorate June as Cataract Awareness Month, Dr. Sabihuddin disclosed that Al Shifa Trust conducts 52,000 free cataract surgeries every year.
According to the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), Dr. Sabihuddin stated that “the prevalence of blindness and vision impairment is higher in females than males while presently, almost half a million women in Pakistan are suffering from blindness and vision impairment.”
He estimated that there are 2.2 billion blind or visually impaired persons in the globe, and that at least one billion of these instances could have been prevented from becoming worse. In order to handle the inflow of eye patients, Dr. Sabihuddin requested the Pakistani government to establish additional facilities.
“He pointed out that the nation’s cataract patient count is growing due to population growth and an ageing average, and a significant portion of women are blind and lack access to eye care,” APP stated.
According to Dr. Sabihuddin, Pakistan has a high percentage of diabetic individuals worldwide, which contributes to a high incidence of eye disorders. He stated that while cataracts are age-related degenerations that are uncontrollable, the government ought to improve the eye departments at all state-run hospitals, including district-level hospitals.
According to Dr. Sabihuddin, AST operates trust hospitals in Sukkur, Kohat, Muzaffarabad, and Chakwal, Pakistan, and possesses the most up-to-date technology and knowledge. Each year, these hospitals execute over 52,000 cataract procedures at no cost to the patients.
“Since its establishment, the Cataract Department has performed one million surgeries,” according to APP.
