About 1.6 million people in the country suffering from one or the other eye condition are at high risk and may lose their sight, said senior eye specialist and president of Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA), Dr Misbah ul Aziz.
Addressing doctors and paramedics attending patients at an eye camp organised by Prevention of Blindness (POB) Trust, a subsidiary of Pakistan Islamic Medical Association (PIMA), he said helping these patients, mainly comprising those with limited resources, was a collective responsibility.
He appreciated the eye surgeons and paramedics for their commitment to facilitating free of cost surgeries for prevention and control of blindness and visual impairment.
Dr Misbah-ul-Aziz said the POB had been working since July 2007 for the cause and managed to protect numerous people from permanent blindness and that these people mainly comprised those who could not afford to pay for necessary treatment.
Dr Rao Naeem, POB coordinator, said the organisation since its establishment in 2007 had conducted 120,000 operations.
“The POB have 200 doctors on board and has also started construction of a well equipped eye hospital in Karachi,” he said.