Health PS says blindness is avoidable

Speaking at the World Sight Day commemorations in Molepolole yesterday, Kahiya said that many people have huge opportunities closed to them while others are condemned to a life of poverty without the knowledge that their eyesight can be corrected.  He said there are about 45 million blind people globally and the number is likely to increase to 76 million by 2020 if no interventions are put in place. 

He said the numbers are unacceptably high considering that one of the major causes of blindness is cataract, which can effectively be cured with an operation. He added that the operation takes less than 20 minutes to perform. He encouraged people to have their eyesight checked and go for operations if necessary. He said that cataract operations are done at Scottish Livingstone Hospital, where professionals have volunteered their time to ensure that many patients have their sight restored.