Islamabad;According to Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital one in ten school-age children have vision problems that, if left untreated, it can affect their learning ability, personality, and adjustment in school and later in society.
Eye infections are very common in children resulting in serious problems due to lack of healthcare facilities and low level of awareness, said Chief of Medical Services Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital Dr Wajid Ali Khan.
While talking to a group of journalists, he said that parents and teachers should keep an eye on signs of vision problems among kids for timely treatment as healthy eyes are a critical part of the development of kids.
He said that every seasonal change brings an army of infections causing conjunctivitis, corneal ulcer, redness, swelling, and dry eyes, etc. which are not noticed in the beginning and by the time people visit doctors for symptoms of diseases, it is often too late, he added.
Vision screening should be part of the child’s routine check-ups even if the problems aren’t noted, he said, adding that comprehensive eye examination by a professional should not be avoided.
He said that most of the time, vision problems aren’t obvious, and the best way to catch issues early is through vision screening.
“I will strongly recommend screening at the school level that can prevent blindness and other associated problems,” said Dr Wajid Ali Khan.
He said that there were many eye conditions and diseases that can affect a child’s vision, therefore, every new-born should be checked thoroughly at the age of 14 days and treated immediately in case of any problem.
Any delay can result in permanent blindness as one of the main problems in treating children was non-availability of trained doctors.
Therefore, he said, we have embarked upon a programme to train doctors and paramedics at home while providing the facility to doctors from other countries like Afghanistan, Egypt, and Bangladesh.
Around 0.9 percent population in Pakistan (two million) is blind, most of them from preventable or curable blindness.
