PESHAWAR, June 5: The government has decided to establish a school for the blind in the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas with a view to putting brakes on eye ailments.

“We have decided to establish a school for the blind in Mohmand Agency. A local resident has donated two kanals of land for the first-ever school for the visually impaired in the Fata,” said Dr M. Zubair Khan, the heath director for the tribal areas.

He was speaking at the concluding session of a two-day workshop called “Comprehensive Eye-care” which was aimed at imparting training to ophthalmic technicians of Fata hospitals here on Tuesday.

According to him, the people in Fata had little access to healthcare facilities, saying the government had approved a project through which eye-care services would be improved at the cost of Rs113 million over a period of five years.

He said the establishment of the school would be a landmark achievement and the people with eye problems would be given training to improve their eyesight.

He said the school would also impart training to health professionals so that they would be able to diagnose eye problems and treat patients.

Dr Zubair said: “Representatives of donor organisations have visited the area and soon work will be started on the project.”

He said that due to illiteracy on the part of the tribal population the people were unaware of health problems, especially regarding eye diseases, due to which they suffered from various ailments.

Ophthalmologist Dr Junaid Sethi said that the eyesight of most of the children who suffered from one problem or another could be restored.

He said that technicians and doctors had been trained who would be required to examine patients at the Basic Health Units, Rural Health Centres and civil hospitals and would refer them for specialized treatment to agency headquarter hospitals for any complications.

He said that they were holding free eye camps due to which patients received treatment at their doorstep.

Dr Sethi said that heavy vehicles fitted with operation theatres and other facilities were being purchased that would provide on-the-spot operation and investigation facilities to patients suffering from eye problems.