By Muhammad Luqman Almost 25 percent of the diabetics in Pakistan lose their vision every year, mainly due to diseases like cataracts, glaucoma and other eye disorders. “ The loss of vision can be prevented if people suffering from diabetes mellitus take preventive measures on time,” says Dr. Dr. Sharif Hashmani , Pakistan’s one of the leading ophthalmologist. Pakistan is currently home to over 10 million diabetics who ultimately lose their lives due to after-effects of the endocrine disorder. According to World Health Organization recommendations, 100,000 eye specialists are needed to cater to the needs of 120 million population of Pakistan, but at the moment there are only 30,000 working in this part of the world and only a few hundred specialising in the emerging field of paediatric ophthalmology. Opthalmologists believe that diabetes had emerged as the leading cause of loss of vision among Pakistanis. “There are over 26 per cent diabetics in Pakistan, of which 25 per cent lose their vision due to uncontrolled diabetes and its complications. Fortunately, diabetes is an avoidable disease or it can be managed and controlled through medicines and a healthy lifestyle,” Dr Hashmani said. Excessive use of 4th generation antibiotics is another factor causing drug-resistant eye diseases in Pakistan where bacterial infections are not longer responding to drugs. Another common cause of blindness in Pakistan is cataract or motiya which is caused by aging, diabetes, hypertension and smoking. Twenty-six percent of Pakistani population is suffering from diabetes , according to National Survey 2016-17 on diabetes . According to the survey, 35 million to 37.5 million people above 20 are suffering from this disease in the country. Findings of this survey were made public at a health conference recently.
