One in 4 Pakistanis Affected by Diabetes, 25% Unaware

APP
Rawalpindi: President Al-Shifa Trust (AST) Eye Hospital, Maj Gen (retd) Rehmat Khan, highlighted a concerning trend on Monday, stating that every fourth person in the country suffers from diabetes, with 25 percent of them unaware of their condition, leading to severe eye problems.
Referring to recent reports, he emphasized the increasing prevalence of diabetes in Pakistan, which is a primary cause of vision impairment. Gen (retd) Rehmat pointed out the rising incidence of diabetic retinopathy, a condition that damages the blood vessels in the eye’s retina.
He underscored that diabetic retinopathy is a common cause of vision problems and can ultimately lead to blindness. Tragically, hundreds of people in Pakistan lose their vision daily due to preventable conditions like cataracts.
Furthermore, he revealed that over 2.6 million individuals suffer from preventable visual impairments, with cataracts being a significant contributor to blindness among those aged 50 and above. Additionally, approximately 42 percent of school-age children experience refractive errors.
Maj Gen (retd) Rehmat Khan said that since its establishment, Al-Shifa Trust has provided treatment to 30 million people and performed 900,000 surgeries, helping alleviate the burden of eye diseases in Pakistan.
Gen (Retd) Rehmat Khan informed us 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 me that AST offered free services to 80 percent of 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, suggesting 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.