ISLAMABAD: After screening 1.5 million children for refractive errors in Pakistan, Standard Chartered Bank Tuesday announced to launch a comprehensive eye health care programme of US$ 1 million for the people living in remote areas.
Under the project, eye health care facilities to be provided for over 1.7 million people living in under privileged and remote areas of the country who are facing eye health issues.
The Bank has also announced for initiating another project with a total cost of US$ 1 million for improving eye health services in four districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Addressing a press conference here after successfully completion of ‘Pakistan Urban Pediatric Eye Care Programme’, Chief Executive Officer of the Bank, Shazad Dada said the Bank along with its partner Sightsavers International has screened 1.5 million children for refractive errors in five major cities across the country.
The screening project was implemented with the framework of the National Eye Health Plan in cities including Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan and Rawalpindi, he added.
The overall objective of programme was to identify blind and low vision children and to provide the required eye health services including surgeries, spectacles, low vision devices to children during school eye health activities, he added.
Shazad Dada said the project will lead to an increase in eye health awareness in school and adjacent communities as eye health screening were critical for health and well being of the children and programme has ensured that 1.5 million children understand its importance.
Country Director Sightsavers Global, Mrs Caroline said that his organization was working in preventive measures for blindness for the last 65 years across 25 countries of the world.
The main objectives of the organization are to prevent blindness, provide treatment, educate and create awareness about the reason and causes of the blindness, she added.
In Pakistan, she said that blindness was increasing due to rapid increase in diabetics adding that Sightsavers was also working on creating awareness among masses to take preventive measures to get rid from this disgusting disease.
Dr Assad, Coordinator of Nation Committee for Eye Health while acknowledging the efforts of the bank and Sightsaver said that they were extending help for government for last 11 years. He said that under the project about 82,000 lady health workers were also imparting training about preventive measures of blindness and about 100,000 lady health workers were also provided diagnosing common cause of blindness.
He said that about 1.5 million children screened and 72,000 were provided spectacles and 3,000 surgeries were carried out adding that three years pilot project was also launched in Punjab. He said that three eye banks would also be established in Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar to provide eye transplant facilities.
