KARACHI, July 9: Cataract is registered to contribute 15 to 20 per cent of blindness among local children.

Dr Shahnawaz Munami, community ophthalmologist Dow Medical College and Civil Hospital, said on Tuesday that in Pakistan a children born to mothers with rubella during the early part of her pregnancy were common victims of cataract.

They were also at the risk of losing their lives because of other rubella-related problems such as congenital heart diseases etc. Other important causes of cataract in children, he said, were hereditary factors and injury.

“In Pakistan one out of every 1,000 children is blind in both eyes and the prevention of childhood blindness assumes added importance as some of these factors and diseases are also a major threat to the very lives of children,” he said.

In response to a question about the symptoms of cataract in children, Dr Munami referred to the appearance of a white spot in one or both eyes with squint.

According to him the white spots at times may not be very prominent and child may show other symptoms of defective vision like inability to follow accurately the direction of sound, rapid to and fro movements of the eyeball. Such a child may also be less active for his/her age.

For treatment and prevention of cataract in children there is strongly needed a provision for regular eye checkups of all children without any distinction.

Dr Shahnawaz Munami recommended that all girls above 12 years be vaccinated against rubella. He said the practice of inter- family marriages must be discouraged where hereditary diseases are prevalent.

He said the only cure for cataract was early operation which involved the removal of cataract followed by implantation of the Intro Ocular Lens (ILL). He said if the ILL was not implanted a child might have to wear thick glasses for the rest of his/her life.

“The surgery for cataract in children can be performed at any stage, but it gives useful results if carried out as early as possible,” he said.—APP