KARACHI: Incidence of vision impairment is on the rise in Pakistan. Thousands of people face loss of vision annually due to cataract, glaucoma and other diseases that can be prevented by avoiding and controlling diabetes, and hypertension, and quitting smoking, ophthalmologists said at a conference held in the city on Sunday. As many as 25 percent diabetics lose their vision annually in Pakistan, which is a large number if compared to other countries, and as many people face loss of vision due to cataract and glaucoma, the speakers said. The fourth Pioneering Innovations in Ophthalmology (PIO) conference was was jointly organised by Hashmanis Group of Hospitals and Ophthalmic Society of Pakistan (OSP). Speaking on the occasion, College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan’s (CPSP) Professor Khalid Masood Gondal said that the country was facing an acute shortage of trained and qualified ophthalmologists. He said there was a need for at least 100,000 ophthalmologists, while the number of registered ophthalmologists was no more than 30,000 at the moment. And there are only a few hundred specialists in the emerging field of pediatric ophthalmology, he said. “As per World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations, we need at least 100,000 trained and qualified ophthalmologists but currently we only have 30,000 eye specialists in the country,” he said, claiming that the CPSP was trying its level best to overcome the shortage of eye specialists by motivating young doctors to specialise in the field of ophthalmology, he said. Hashmanis Group of Hospitals chief executive officer (CEO Professor Sharif Hashmani said that diabetes had emerged as the leading cause of loss of vision among Pakistanis as more than 25 percent diabetics were losing their vision annually just because they were not taking care to control diabetes and its complications. “There are over 26 percent diabetics in Pakistan, of which 25 percent lose their vision due to diabetes and its complications. Fortunately, diabetes is an avoidable disease or it can be managed and controlled through medicines and healthy lifestyle,” Hashmani said. However, he said, fortunately, majority of these conditions can be prevented or treated if people see trained and qualified eye specialists in time. Dr Hashmani urged the public to adopt healthy lifestyles to avoid diseases like diabetes and hypertension. He stressed the need for consulting trained and qualified doctors in case of any vision-related problems as most of eye diseases were now treatable in Pakistan. To a query, he said excessive use of 4th generation antibiotics was another problem in causing drug-resistant eye diseases in Pakistan where drugs were not responding to bacterial eye infections. He urged doctors not to prescribe 4th generation antibiotics to patients. Pakistan Islamic Medical Association’s (PIMA) former president also spoke on the occasion. Dr Misbahul Aziz said cataract was another common cause of vision loss in Pakistan. It was caused by aging, diabetes, hypertension and smoking. He urged the public to consult medical experts if they were experiencing symptoms associated with cataract. Published in Daily Times, February 5th 2018.