Zahiruddin Eye Care Project
Eye operating equipment
for an eye care project, Pakistan
Regional Background
Approximately 250,000 people
become curably blind in Pakistan every year. In addition there
are currently between 2-3 million people already waiting to be
treated. The government hospitals, which are struggling
against this overwhelming backlog, tend to be places of
mayhem. They are ill-equipped and overcrowded with people
waiting for treatment. The average wage in Pakistan is £3 a
day, so the majority of people cannot afford medicine, and for
those who can, bribery has become common as a means of jumping
long queues and receiving treatment before those who have been
waiting, in some case for days.
PROJECT
Background
In 1996 Dr Zahiruddin
established the Zahiruddin Eye Care Project (Z.E.C.P), a non
income generating initiative working for the prevention of
blindness and the cure of eye diseases. Since its inauguration
on 14th June 1996 it has been fighting against blindness through
various programmes. The project runs free outreach programmes,
distributes free medicine to the patients and holds free
surgical eye camps in different areas where facilities for eye
work are virtually non-existent. Seminars for doctors,
paramedics and communities are held and volunteer eye assistants
are trained to give better service to eye patients.
The team, consisting
of an ophthalmologist, three eye assistants and volunteers, is
currently running two eye care centres in Mirpurkhas and
Shadipalli in the Sindh region. The vast majority of the
inhabitants are poor and illiterate. These centres are for
those who cannot afford the expensive eye specialists of the
cities. Not a single patient has lost vision after camp
surgery and many children suffering from Vitamin A deficiency
have recovered after proper advice and treatment.
PROJECT AIMS
Last year Z.E.C.P. organised 7 free
surgical eye camps in which 241 operations were performed and
2996 patients were treated. Free medicines were also
distributed.
The results have been wonderful,
with many patients being able to see again after cataract
operations. However, the number, safety and precision of
operations would greatly increased were they to perform more
Intra Ocular Lens implantations instead of simple cataract
extractions. For this they need specialist equipment.
.
HOW YOU HAVE HELPED
Through The Besom you
have provided the funds to purchase a keratometre, which can
ascertain the power of the patient’s eyeball, and fifty Intra
Ocular Lenses. These are set to the precise power for a
particular patient following the readings of the keratometre.
You will thereby dramatically improve the amazing work being
done through Z.E.C.P, thus enabling them to restore sight to
many more of those ¼ million curably blind people. The 50 lenses
will specifically restore sight to 25 people
.
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