TOWARDS BETTER EYE CARE: Governor Sushil Kumar Shinde having a look at the latest equipment at Super Sight Laser Centre in Vijayawada on Sunday.

VIJAYAWADA: Governor Sushil Kumar Shinde on Sunday stressed the need for greater efforts to combat blindness and called upon the ophthalmologists to treat poor patients suffering from eye disorders without charging fees from them. He pointed out that 60 per cent of blindness cases were a direct result of cataract.

Social responsibility

Speaking after inaugurating a Super Sight Laser Centre here, Mr. Shinde said that serving the poor was a social responsibility of the doctors. He said that eye is a vital organ of the body and the loss of sight meant shutting oneself up from the external world. If a person became blind, he or she would be distanced from the real world, a situation quite unimaginable for any human being.

The Governor said that the treatment of cataract had assumed a lot of significance in view of the fact that it was the major reason for occurrence of blindness. Poor people were falling victim because of their inability to receive timely treatment for cataract. Doctors should take upon this responsibility and serve the poor to pay back their dues to society, which had blessed them with a number of opportunities.

Pointing out that new technologies and drugs revolutionised the treatment procedures, Mr. Shinde said that the fruit of these should be extended to all sections of society. He said that all ophthalmologists should make such efforts that the latest technologies like Bausch & Lomb zyoptix laser system should benefit even the poor patients. He complimented refractive surgeon and Super Sight Laser Centre administrative officer M.N. Raju for carrying out cataract surgeries free of cost on thousands of poor patients.

The Governor said that the doctors, surgeons and all others should be involved in the development and extension of benefits of technology to all.

Mr. Shinde said that when he served as a Health Minister in the past, he used to get to the bottom of every emerging medical technology and inquire about their benefits from the specialists. He pointed out that a layman should be inquisitive about various medical treatments and equipment. This did not mean that they should conduct surgeries themselves, but only for a wider awareness on the available technologies.

Retired professor of Guntur Medical College K. Vengal Rao presided over the meeting. Vice-Chancellor of NTR University of Health Sciences R. Sambasiva Rao, Bausch & Lomb general manager Rajit Goel, refractive surgeon S. Jayasimha, Dr. Raju and others were present.

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