![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.faceofmalawi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/eye_specialist_front.jpg\" "\\"eye_specialist_front\\"")
<\/a>Eye specialist: Very few in Malawi <\/p><\/div>Malawi has a meager six professional eye specialists against a population of 13 million Malawians.<\/p>\n
A local NGO, Eye for Development which promotes primary eye care services disclosed this to Zodiak Online.<\/p>\n
Executive Director Mr. Edward Chileka Banda says this development has heavily contributed to preventable blindness among Malawians.<\/p>\n
However while confessing the shortfall, Kasungu District Medical Officer Dr. Tikhala Makhaza called on the cooperate world to partner with government to bridge the existing gap.<\/p>\n
He also urged communities to develop a medical seeking behavior when they notice eye problems.<\/p>\n
Statistics show that they are over 140,000 people suffering from blindness in Malawi.<\/p>\n
Eighty percent of these cases, it is said, could normally have been avoided where people were treated in time.<\/p>\n
However, the shortage of eye specialists has been a huge setback in this area.<\/p>\n
\u201cMalawi has six eye specialists only,\u201d he said during a stakeholders\u2019 meeting held in Kasungu district. The meeting was aimed at promoting primary eye care services.<\/p>\n
Contributors at the meeting expressed surprise that the eye department in the ministry of health has such a minute number of experts when eye problems are known to be wide spread in the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is worrisome that eye problems are neglected in Malawi yet they are equally a social and economic problem,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Eye for development has since called on government to fully integrate eye services in its implementation plans to save the masses from preventable blindness.<\/p>\n
Kasungu district alone has an estimated 10,000 people with blindness. – Zodiak <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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