Pakistan Institute of Community Ophthalmology (PICO) has started a free glaucoma screening camp for five days at the Medical Teaching Institution Hayatabad Medical Complex (MTI-HMC) Peshawar on the occasion of World Glaucoma Awareness Week here on Monday. The camp was inaugurated by the famous poet of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mr. Abasin Yousafzai who attended the event as a special guest. Like every year, this year too this free glaucoma screening camp will provide free cataract diagnosis to patients, their attendants, and other visitors of the hospital for five days. On the occasion of the inauguration, Medical Director MTI-HMC Prof. Dr. Shahzad Akbar, Director PICO Prof. Dr. Sanaullah Jan, Ophthalmologist Khyber Teaching Institution (KTH) Prof. Dr. Sadia Sethi, Chairman Department of Ophthalmology MTI-HMC Prof. Dr. Naeem Khan, former Chief Executive of the HMC Prof. Dr. Shad Muhammad, former director PICO Prof. Dr. Nasir Saeed, Prof. Abid Nawaz, PICO staff and students participated in large numbers.
Chief Guest Abasin Yousafzai joined an awareness walk with the participants, inaugurated the free glaucoma screening camp, and piloted an eye examination for the diagnosis of black cataracts. Appreciating the initiative of PICO-HMC, he said that providing free diagnosis and awareness about glaucoma, will help many people who are not aware of this disease or who have no access to treatment because their resources are scarce. He said that positive results are being seen in government hospitals after health reforms, in which the biggest initiative is a free treatment facility for poor patients. On this occasion, Director PICO Professor Sanaullah Jan said that there are more than 1.8 million cataract patients in Pakistan, half of whom have lost their vision permanently due to delays in diagnosis and treatment. He said that a black cataract is like a silent killer whose only treatment is a timely diagnosis. He appealed to the people to get an eye examination for cataract diagnosis at any nearby health center once a year.
It is to remember that the five-day free glaucoma screening camp at MTI-HMC Peshawar will provide free diagnostic services from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. till March 17. It is pertinent to mention that Glaucoma Awareness Week is celebrated globally every year in the mid of March with the aim of preventing this disease. The theme of this year is to highlight the importance of early detection in slowing the progression of glaucoma and that regular eye tests are the only way to detect 'symptomless' glaucoma early.