ISLAMABAD: The pre­valence of blindness and vision impairment among people aged 50 and above in Pakistan has reduced re­­markably, from seven per cent to around two per cent, a survey by federal Ministry of Health shows.

The results of ‘Third Na­­tional Survey of Blindness’, conducted between 2019-2021, were announced in a ceremony on Tuesday.

According to the survey, 9,028,073 people in the country have vision impairment — ranging from mild impairment to permanent blindness. Out of them, 484,027 are blind, down from 1.5 million in 2004, when the survey was last conducted.

The prevalence of blindness was found to be higher in females with 2.07pc as compared to 1.98pc in males, revealed Prof Asad Aslam Khan who is the National Coordinator of Prevention of Blindness Programme in Pakistan. The overall number was 2.02pc.

Number of unsighted persons drops by one-third in 15 years

The survey has linked blindness to untreated cataract (49pc), while 51pc ca­­ses are a result of glauco­ma, corneal opacity, un­­cor­rec­ted aphakia, macular deg­e­neration and diabetic reti­nopathy. The main cause of vision impairment was refractive error (11.9pc).

Blindness due to cataract was down from 55pc to 49pc, the data showed.

Briefing about the sample size, Prof Khan, who is also chairman of National Committee for Eye Health, said around 44,800 individuals aged 50 and above were included in the survey conducted in 16 different districts.

He added that the objective of the survey was to estimate the prevalence of blindness and vision imp­a­i­­rment amongst people aged 50 and above and to identify its causes as people from this age group comprise 80pc of all cases of blindness and vision impairment.

Addressing the cerem­ony, Parliamentary Secre­tary Health Dr Shazia Som­roo called the results “very encouraging” as she linked the positive trend to effective public-private partnership.

After the 2004 survey, the National Committee for Eye Health (NCEH) and federal health ministry prepared and executed two five-year plans for prevention of blindness in collaboration with INGOs and local organisations.

Between 2004 and 2020, College of Ophthalmology was established at Mayo Hospital, Lahore while eye departments in 32 teaching hospitals, 122 district headquarter hospitals and more than 150 tehsil headquarter hospitals were est­ablished across the country.

Director General Minis­try of Health Dr Shabana Saleem said serious efforts were needed to bring down the prevalence of blindness and vision impairment and assured that the ministry would conduct more surveys in the future.

According to the data, blindness and vision impairment results in financial losses of $270bn due to productivity loss.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2022