<i>7.5 lakh visually impaired people in country</i>

Speakers at a discussion meeting yesterday said there are about 7.5 lakh visually impaired people in the country of whom 40 thousands are children.
They said most of the visually impaired people live in rural areas due to poverty, lack of awareness and facilities for eye treatment.
The discussion was organised by Mass-line Media Centre (MMC) in association with Orbis International at LGED Bhaban in the city.
Channel i and Daily Amar Desh were the media partners of the discussion.
In his keynote paper, Dr Abu Raihan, country director of Orbis International, said 12 elderly people and one baby are losing their sights in every minute across the globe.
He said of the 7.5 lakh visually impaired people, two-thirds are preventable.
There are 450 ophthalmologists and 650 eye specialists in the country although it needs much more ophthalmologists and eye specialists for the treatment of blind people.
Mentioning some of the reasons behind visually impairment, Raihan said having nutritious food and immunisation and taking special care of mothers during pregnancy can help stop the disease.
Speaking as chief guest, adviser to former caretaker government Mahbubul Alam said awareness about the disease among the poor rural people is a must to eradicate visually impairment.
He said though the number of doctors has increased in recent times, the number of eye specialist did not increase proportionately.
Presiding over the discussion, Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury, chairman of Gonoshasthaya Kendra, said suspension of school health programme was not a good decision of the government.
He suggested vegetables and nutritious foods including intake of de-worming tablets twice a year by the babies to get rid of many eye problems.
He also called on the media to disseminate the information about the disease among the people.
MMC Executive Director Kamrul Hossain Monju, public health specialist Dr A M Zakir Hussain and Change Maker President Tanbir ul Siddique also spoke on the occasion.