President Al-Shifa Trust (AST) Eye Hospital Maj Gen (Retd) Rehmat Khan on Monday said that diabetes was becoming more common in Pakistan and one of the primary causes for vision problems. Talking to the media, he said that according to recent reports every fourth person in the country has diabetes, and 25 percent of them do not know about it resulting in severe eye problems. Gen. (Retd) Rehmat Khan said that diabetic retinopathy, a condition where the blood vessels in the eye’s retina were injured was on the rise. He said that diabetic retinopathy was the most typical reason for vision problem following losing one’s sight. Every day, hundreds of people in Pakistan lose their vision also due to avoidable conditions like cataracts,he said and added that over 2.6 million individuals suffered from preventable visual impairments while cataracts were a significant contributor to preventable blindness in those aged 50 and above. “About 42 percent of school-age children suffer from refractive error-related disorders.” Since the founding of Al-Shifa Trust, 30 million people have received treatment while conducting 900,000 surgeries so far,he said. Gen. (Retd) Rehmat Khan informed that as many as one million OPD patients were treated in a month while ten thousand surgeries were performed monthly at the trust’s hospitals in Rawalpindi, Chakwal, Kohat,Muzaffarabad, and Sukkar. He said that the scope of services would increase with the completion of the under-construction hospital at Gilgit-Baltistan and the new block at Chakwal Hospital. “Together with the Eye Bank, Light House, Research Center, Eye Cancer Center, Glaucoma, Retina, and Pediatric Referral Services departments, AST runs the most cutting-edge children’s eye hospital in Asia.” He informed that AST offered free of charge services to 80 percent patients at six facilities and managed the most extensive outreach program, setting up free eye camps nationwide, particularly in remote places. The President AST added that 70 percent of the total Rs 4 billion costs were funded by donations annually. The threat of blindness had gone out of control because of ignorance and a lack of district-level services. “With the population now over 250 million, a new study was also required to evaluate the seriousness of the issue,he said and suggested that the World Health Organization, or any other resourceful organization should be involved in this study.” A government-sponsored awareness campaign in schools and the media, along with diabetes treatment, can help lower the number of people suffering from eye disorders, he added.