Premature babies face blindness risk

Doctors have warned that Pakistan is facing a growing epidemic of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), urging the government to introduce mandatory nationwide screening of premature babies to prevent avoidable childhood blindness.

According to the Department of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus at Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital, Rawalpindi, improving neonatal survival rates is increasing the number of infants vulnerable to ROP, a potentially blinding eye disease that affects premature babies.

Doctors said nearly one million babies were born prematurely in Pakistan every year, with an estimated 300,000 developing varying degrees of ROP, while thousands required delicate sight-saving surgery.