Al-Shifa team leaves for Mauritius to treat patients with eye disorders

Sight of girl who lost vision in acid attack restored employing new technique

RAWALPINDI (August 27) 

A team of highly skilled doctors and surgeons has left for Mauritius to treat patients with eye and sight disorders.

The team is led by Prof. Dr. Wajid Ali Khan, Chief Consultant and Dean of Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital which will remain there for one week to serve the ailing humanity and conduct cornea transplant and vitro retinal surgery free of cost.

This will be the sixth mission sent to the friendly country by Al Shifa Hospital on the request of Ministry of Health and Quality of Life of Mauritius.

Dr. Wajid Ali Khan, the team leader, is a world renowned eye surgeon who has been awarded “Sitara-i-Imtiaz” by the Government of Pakistan and many foreign institutions have acknowledged his contribution.

He recently drew world attention by employing a new technique on a girl to restore her sight which she lost in an acid attack.

It may be mentioned that after realising the positive impact of Al Shifa teams on the lives of people with eye disorders, the Ministry of Health and Quality of Life of Mauritius entered into a long term collaborative agreement with the hospital to facilitate regular visits of doctors and transfer of patients with complicated cases to Pakistan.

The agreement also includes training and capacity building of Mauritian doctors and paramedical staff.

Latest figures released by the Mauritian health authorities reveal that one person in three suffers from diabetes mellitus (or sugar diabetes), which means that the level of glucose in their blood is abnormally high.

This causes blood vessels in the body to become fragile and liable to rupture. When this occurs in the retinal blood vessels, visual impairment may result which is called diabetic retinopathy.

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Timely screening, surgery can help avoid problems, save the sight of babies

Timely screening, surgery can help avoid problems, save the sight of babies

Al-Shifa signs MoUs with leading hospitals for free treatment of new-borns

RAWALPINDI (July 19)

More than 80 per cent of premature babies who weigh less than 1.5 Kg have high risk of developing Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) or disorganized growth of retinal blood vessels which can cause vision problems including permanent blindness, a leading eye-care hospital said Friday. 

Babies born prematurely (before 266 days) have many obstacles to overcome in their first fragile weeks, one of which is eye development that can be resolved through screening and surgical procedure to help avoid serious eyesight problems later in life, said Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital.

The blood vessels of the retina begin to develop three months after conception and complete their growth at the time of normal birth. If an infant is born prematurely, eye development can be disrupted, said Brigadier (Retd) Rizwan Ullah Asghar, Executive Director Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital.

Talking to journalists, he said that routine use of excess oxygen to treat premature babies in hospitals stimulates abnormal vessel growth in eyes with the smallest and sickest having the highest risk of facing devastating effects of ROP, leading cause of paediatric retinal blindness.

All parents must include a vision screening in their list of baby check-ups between six and twelve months of age, said Rizwan Ullah Asghar adding that every premature infant deserves constant attention of an ophthalmologist because of their increased risk for eye misalignment, amblyopia and the need for glasses to develop normal vision.

He said that we have signed MoUs with administrations of Fuji Foundation Hospital, Combined Military Hospital and Benazir Bhutto Hospital under which Al-Shifa will be providing all the facilities from transportation, to screening and surgery of the premature babies born in these hospitals.

He informed that Al-Shifa is the only hospital in the Saarc and among few in the world having the latest facilities and skills to treat new-borns with ROP.

Al-Shifa started screening and treatment of newly born babies, especially that of seven months, in March 2013 and cured around 150 in last three months. The number is bound to increase as the awareness grows, he said.

Rizwan Ullah Asghar said that we are here to provide free guidance to all the state-owned and private health facilities including those in other countries by using Teleophtholmology. He added that Teleophtholmology can help save thousands from plunging into darkness for life.

Anyone who seeks distant assistance needs to have an Internet connection for video conferencing with our doctors.

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Eye diseases rising to alarming level in children: say expert

Eye diseases rising to alarming level in children: say expert

RAWALPINDI (July 03)

Eye diseases like Glaucoma, Cataracts, and cancer of Retina has been rising among children due to lack of healthcare facilities and low level of awareness, a leading eye care hospital announced Wednesday.

Parents and teachers should get some information which can help them keep an eye on signs of vision problems in kids for timely treatment as healthy eyes and vision are a critical part of kids’ development, it said.

By the time people visit doctors for symptoms of some diseases, it might already be too late, said Chief Consultant Al-Shifa Eye Trust Dr Wajid Ali Khan while briefing the students at Institute of Ophthalmology.

Vision screening can be part of child's routine check-ups if the problems are noted or not, he said adding that comprehensive eye exams by an eye care professional should not be avoided.

Most of the time, vision problems aren't obvious, and the best way to catch issues early is through vision screenings, he added.

“I will strongly recommend screening at school level that can prevent blindness,” said Dr Wajid Ali Khan.

He said that there are many eye conditions and diseases that can affect a child’s vision therefore every new-born should be checked thoroughly at the age of 14 days and treated immediately in case of any problem. Any delay can result into permanent blindness, he warned.

Dr Wajid said that the main problem in treating children is non-availability of trained doctors therefore we have embarked upon a programme to train doctors and paramedics at home while providing the facility to doctors from Afghanistan, Egypt and Bangladesh.

On average, Al-Shifa Trust has been treating 100 children per day free of cost while we have set a target of 200 children per day for the next year and we will have the capacity to check and treat 500 children daily within three years’ time, he informed.

It may be mentioned that a World Health Organisation report says that the number of people around the world with visual impairment is 285 million, of these; 246 million have low vision while 39 million are blind.

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