Another milestone achieved! Punjab becomes Corneal Blindness Free State

Chandigarh, June 11: Punjab achieved another milestone as the state has become a Corneal Blindness Free State. Notably, this comes a month after vaccination campaign against Measles-Rubella was commenced and so far 50 Lakh children have been immunized.

 

The Health Department has achieved another milestone by successfully accomplishing the target of clearing the backlog of Corneal Blindness. With this Punjab has now earned the tag of Corneal Blindness Free State.

Announcing this, the Punjab Health Minister Brahm Mohindra said that the backlog of bilateral corneal blindness had been cleared in record time after taking over the reins of the state. In a press statement, the Minister has expressed satisfaction at the results of Blindness Control Program while reviewing the progress made to clear the backlog of treatable corneal blindness (Blindness because of diseases of Cornea).

“As per the data available with Health Department of Punjab Government, now there was no old case suffering from Bilateral Corneal Blindness in the state,” he added. The Minister said that Corneal blindness contributed to about 0.90% of total blindness in India. Punjab Health Department took the initiative for “Corneal Blindness Backlog Free Punjab (CBBF)” and till date more than 1350 Keratoplasties had been performed on Corneal Blind patients.

He informed that w.e.f. March 2017 to April 2018, 1119 Corneas had been procured and 735corneal Transplant Surgeries (Keratoplasties) had been performed in registered Keratoplasty Centers of Punjab.

The Minister further said that it was an uphill task for the state like Punjab to get coordination from all the stakeholders to achieve this coveted tag of Corneal Blindness Free State. He also noted that all the stakeholders performed their duties diligently especially NGOs and social organizations.