March 07, 2007	Wednesday	Safar 17, 1428

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RAWALPINDI, March 6: A large number of schoolchildren have been caught by eye allergies in the city and cantonment areas.

As many as 75 per cent of the children who visited an eye- screening camp set up by Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital in different schools in the city were found suffering from the disease.

Pollen, clothes, wood, cotton, wool, detergents, unhealthy food, preservatives in foods, coloured foods etc., almost anything could cause allergies of the eyes. The green belts were also among the biggest reasons for allergies, a medical officer of Al-Shifa Eye Hospital said.

“The sole responsibility falls upon parents to ensure their children’s good health. They must make sure that children have healthy breakfast like an egg and a glass of milk and must visit an eye specialist every six months”, said Dr Kashif, Medical Officer, Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital.

The eye-screening camps set up at Army Public School and College, Fauji Foundation School, Airport and City campuses, Rainbow Foundation School and College, Eaglets Foundation School, focused on serious eye (vision) problems such as refractive errors and Ambyopia (failure of one eye to develop vision) among schoolchildren between the age of 10 to 12.

Besides allergies, doctors also detected abnormalities of muscle balance and refractive errors in children.

The eye specialists examined 2,000 children at the camps, Dr Kashif said.

“Out of every 100 children, 15 to 20 had eye allergies besides some cases of refractive errors, Ambyopia, allergic conjunctivitis or squints. And this is a very high ratio in the schools alone”.

Majority of the eye (vision) problems may not be serious, but they occur in children till the age of 10 to 12 years old and if ignored it could become serious, Dr Kashif said.

Responding to a question, he discouraged rinsing of eyes with tap water. “Water in the twin cities is contaminated to quite an extent. I never did it myself and will not encourage others to do so either”, he advised.

Dr Kashif said: “Spectacles do not improve bad vision, but they prevent it from getting worse. Children with weak eyesight could suffer headaches and feel frustrated and become aggressive.

Such children are encouraged to wear glasses because it helps relax eye muscles. Children can then perform better in studies; aggressiveness goes away and they become relaxed”.

President of Al-Shifa Trust, Lt-Gen (retd) Jahan Dad Khan said the centre of community ophthalmology department of the trust organises free eye camps in far-flung and inaccessible areas of the country and also conducts schools screening programme.

“The aim of the project is to reduce blindness through a community-oriented programme of mass education on eye healthcare and large scale screening of school children and the rural population who has no access to hospitals or medicines.

According to the camp coordinator, Ms Humera screening teams would be visiting a number of schools in Rawalpindi and Islamabad in the coming weeks.