Rawalpindi: The prevalence of blindness in Pakistan has seen a significant decrease, falling from 1.78 percent in 1990 to 0.5 percent today, thanks to public-private efforts, including those by Al-Shifa Trust. Despite this progress, experts highlight the need for urgent policy measures to tackle emerging challenges, notably genetic and lifestyle causes of vision loss.

Speaking at a World Sight Day event, Professor Tayyab Afghani, a leading ophthalmologist, noted that genetic diseases are increasingly contributing to blindness in the country. In response, Al-Shifa Trust has established Pakistan’s first ophthalmic genetics center, focusing on early detection through community health education, genetic counseling, and gene analysis.

Professor Afghani also pointed out that myopia has reached epidemic levels in Pakistan and globally, alongside diabetes. He stressed the importance of lifestyle changes, especially reducing screen time for children, supported by school vision screening programs. Al-Shifa has already screened over 3 million children across the nation for vision-related issues.

The trust is expanding its services through six hospitals located in Rawalpindi, Muzaffarabad, Chakwal, Kohat, Sukkur, and Gilgit, with plans to open a Lahore branch by 2027. Annually, it organizes over 150 free eye camps, treating more than 900,000 patients and performing 73,000 surgeries, including cataract removals. Nearly 80 percent of these patients receive free treatment.

Dr. Afghani called for increased government investment in preventive eye care and infrastructure expansion to rural areas, cautioning that the growing disease burden could strain public hospitals. He highlighted the lack of trained specialists and service disparities that drive low-income families to costly private treatments, exacerbating poverty and reducing productivity.