LAHORE:The Department of Ophthalmology, Lahore General Hospital (LGH) has successfully revived its corneal transplant program after a decade-long pause and 25 successful corneal transplant surgeries have been performed, restoring sight to 25 individuals who were previously blind.
In this regard, a ceremony was held at the LGH to celebrate this milestone where Principal PGMI Prof Dr Farooq Afzal was the chief guest. The event was also attended by Member Federal Medical Tribunal Dr. AmjadShahzad, MS Prof DrFaryad Hussain, HoD Ophthalmology Prof Tayyaba Gul Malik along with faculty members, consultants, nurses and paramedical staff of the department.
Speaking at the ceremony, Prof Dr Farooq Afzal said that eyes are a great blessing of nature. Only those who are deprived of them truly understand their value. He stated that restoring sight to a blind person is the greatest gift and a lasting charity. He highlighted that corneal diseases are the fourth leading cause of blindness in Pakistan and the country still relies on imported corneas.
He stressed the urgent need to establish local eye banks and launch large-scale awareness campaigns for cornea donation. He further said that the economic benefit, stating that every one dollar spent on preventing blindness saves six dollars for the economy.
HoD Ophthalmology Prof Tayyaba Gul Malik informed the audience that a single corneal transplant in the private sector costs between Rs300,000 to 500,000. However, at LGH, deserving patients received the procedure completely free of cost. Corneas were provided through donations by organizations including AAPNA, while all other expenses were covered by philanthropists.
