MoU inked for eye treatment of rural women

Project will be inaugurated in the third week of November in Jhang

LAHORE: The College of Ophthalmology and Allied Vision Sciences (COAVS) Lahore and the Fred Hollows Foundation (FHF), Australia, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the eye screening and treatment of rural women in the agriculture sector.

The agreement was signed under the Comprehensive Eye Care for Agriculture and Cottage Industry Female Workers Project for the women of Jhang, Sahiwal and Khanewal districts.



The MoU was signed by Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department Secretary Ali Jan, COAVS Principal Dr Asad Aslam Khan and FHF Country Manager Farooq Awan.

Health Minister Khawaja Imran Nazir and other senior officials of the health department also attended the event. The project activities will be formally inaugurated in Jhang in the third week of November.

Minister for Primary and Secondary Healthcare Khawaja Imran Nazir said that through this project, over 400,000 women associated with agriculture sector in Jhang, Sahiwal and Khanewal district will be provided eye screening
and treatment.

The project will also provide missing facilities at eye care units of tehsil headquarter hospitals and district headquarter hospitals in these districts.



Under the project, over 5,000 lady health workers, over 200 medical officers and 77 medical technicians will receive eye care training. The primary and secondary healthcare department secretary said that this was a unique and innovative project for the eye health of women workers associated with rural agricultural economy in these districts.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 16^th, 2017.