Bangladeshi President Iajuddin Ahmed inaugurated International
Eye Bank Symposium here Saturday, calling for waging social
movement in favor of corneal donation.
Ahmed called upon the conscious sections of society to come
forward to wage social movement in favor of corneal donation among
the mass people for restoring sight of the blind.
"Eye professionals, community opinion leaders and people from
all sections of society can play important roles in building mass
awareness about corneal donation," he said.
He mentioned that although the ultimate treatment of corneal
transplant may help in restoring vision in many corneal patients,
it is more important to prevent corneal diseases that lead to
blindness.
The president said access to eye-health information and
education needs to be expanded for all in order to preserve and
save sight for those who are suffering from avoidable
blindness.
According to statistics, there are about 100,000 corneal blind
people in Bangladesh. Many of their sight could be restored through
corneal transplantation.
The two-day symposium has attracted Eye Bank experts from
Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, China, Iran and the United States.
(Xinhua News Agency October 21, 2007)