One last thought I shall pass through this world but once. Any good that I can do or any help that I can give to my fellow beings, let me do it now. Now; for I shall not pass this way again. Stephen Grellet (1773 - 1855) ANNUAL A public service project: Sponsored by REVIEW Getz Pharma Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd 2019 Designed by d.Studio Photographed by Jamshyd Masud THE LAYTON RAHMATULLA BENEVOLENT TRUST LRBT House, 37-C, Sunset Lane 4, Phase-II, Extension, D.H.A P.O. Box 7684, Karachi-75500, Pakistan Toll free No : 0800-44441 Phone : 92 (0) 21 35396600-5 (Lines) the Leading E-mail : [email protected] Website : www.lrbt.org.pk facebook : Lrbt.Pakistan www.lrbt.org.pk Cataract Cause of Blindness ANNUAL REVIEW 2019 Graham Layton and Vision LRBT is committed to creating a better Pakistan Zaka Rahmatulla by preventing the suffering caused by blindness and other eye ailments. To this end it will provide Established the Layton Rahmatulla state of the art comprehensive free eye-care for Benevolent Trust in 1984, laying down the poor across Pakistan, in keeping with its tradition of excellence, effciency and an inspiring vision, an audacious compassion for all. mission and 4 founding values. Mission No man/woman or child should go blind just because they cannot afford the treatment. Founding Values All treatment at LRBT should be totally free 1 for the poor so that no man, woman or child becomes blind just because they cannot afford the treatment. Treatment should be appropriate, state-of- 2 the-art. Charity should not mean second- rate treatment. There should be no discrimination due to 3 gender, caste, ethnicity, language, religion or sect. Patients should be treated with compassion 4 and dignity. It is a reversible disease and excellent vision can be obtained by a procedure in which the cloudy natural lens is replaced by an artifcial lens. This however can only be done in a hospital under antiseptic conditions and by a skilled ophthalmologist. Unfortunately these Cataract is the facilities are not available leading cause in small towns and of blindness/ rural areas. Impaired vision in Pakistan. The procedure costs a minimum It is a disease of of Rs 15,000 per eye aging but can occur and can go upto in children due to Rs 150,000. genetic causes, trauma, diabetes etc. With the average per capita income of a Pakistani being Rs 19,000 per month the choice before them is stark: Get the surgery done LRBT was and starve or slowly descend established Cataract into a world of darkness. in December 1984 Starvation is the ultimate because the Founders end in the latter too thought that no the Leading Cause but it is deferred. human being should be faced with such of Blindness a choice. Starting with a humble mobile unit in 1985 LRBT has grown to a network of 77 facilities: 19 purpose built hospitals and 58 clinics. With exception of 3 Tertiary hospitals and a secondary hospital in Quetta all the rest are located in small towns and rural areas where poverty is the This network highest, there is complete lack covers 78 % of of ophthalmic facilities and where Pakistanis who can they are available it is beyond the access these reach of 80 % of Pakistanis facilities within due to affordability. a bus ride of a maximum of 3 hours. In the last 34 years we have performed 2.8 million cataract surgeries, absolutely LRBT free for the poor, the highest of all eye Largest Eye Care care providers including Network in Pakistan the Government. Generally, people believe that cataract in a baby is unheard of yet it is possible and comes as a huge shock to the parents. Living in a small town and being uneducated gave birth to a lot of theories by well-meaning relatives with the consensus being that the child would be blind throughout her life. Despite the hopelessness surrounding him Bahadar Ali remained strong in his quest to fnd a cure for his seven month old baby girl’s vision problems. Baby Noor was only 3 months old when her mother realized that she did not focus on things and later on developed white opacities in the center of the eye. Having an older son she knew there was something wrong with her daughter’s eyes. She shared her concerns with her husband who left no stone unturned for her treatment but her condition did not improve. Bahadur Ali, a car mechanic by profession had exhausted all his resources and with no savings left he felt extremely helpless but he had frm belief in miracles and went on and borrowed money and took her to a clinic where a colleague had gone for his mother’s cataract surgery. A ray of hope emerged when the doctor said she had congenital cataract and it could be cured with surgery, the only issue being that she would have to be operated under general anesthesia and that facility was not available at the clinic. Seeing Bahadur’s condition the doctor advised ‘‘ ‘‘ him to go to LRBT Korangi. Baby Noor was carefully examined and had successful surgeries in both her eyes. The joy her parents experienced when she started showing interest in surroundings and responded by smiling was their best gift ever. ‘‘ Noor Parents want to provide a perfect life for their children. Bilal was ecstatic at the birth of his frst born, Sohaib. He made sure that his son was never deprived of anything and sent both his children to school. As a result he had to live in a one room rented house with his wife, children and ailing parents. Bilal worked from 7 am till dark as a laborer doing back breaking work every day, yet he was never too tired to play with his children. Unlike others in his locality he made sure that his children went for regular checkups and that their vaccinations were up to date. One day while playing outside with other children, one of the toys hit Sohaib in his left eye. He experienced piercing pain and started to cry, his mother immediately rushed outside and put ice on her son’s eye to stop it from swelling. Sohaib calmed down enough after ten minutes to tell his mother what had happened. She examined his eye closely, there was no swelling but it was red. As soon as Bilal reached home they took him to an eye doctor who gave drops and assured them their son’s eye will heal. Unfortunately that was not the case as they discovered when Sohaib’s teacher called the parents to tell them that he was unable to see the board properly and to take him to an Ophthalmologist. Sohaib was diagnosed with traumatic cataract as a result of the injury to his eye and to save their son from going blind in that eye, Bilal would have to pay Rs. 30,000. He made every effort asking friends and relatives for help ‘‘ but despite their contributions he was unable to ‘‘ raise enough funds. His world came crashing down, he saw his son’s future disintegrate in front of his eyes. Seeing his distress his employer enquired what was worrying Bilal and upon hearing about Sohaib’s ailment he advised him to go to LRBT Korangi Hospital immediately. Sohaib was examined in the pediatric ward and underwent surgery. When his bandage came off the miracle they were praying for happened and Sohaib could see. The dark clouds had lifted and ‘‘ the sun was shining again. Joyfully Bilal hugged his son and thanked the doctors and institution for giving Sohaib a new life. Bilal “When my husband lost his job due to a serious accident that left him handicapped for life all we were left with was a 2 roomed rented house, eight children and my self-determination. These were my weapons to fght life’s battle as I had never gone to school nor was I equipped with any skill but with the spectre of being cast out of the house by the landlord and begging for food and shelter on the streets I was ready to take the challenge, head on. Out of eight of my children four were school going. I promised myself that I will come out as a warrior and will never let my children beg for their needs” recalls Sofa. Days and sleepless nights went by and the poor couple would stay up thinking how to run their affairs. Life had been diffcult enough having to manage on in his meagre wages but this was also was gone. The savings ended, small assets sold and now to top it they were burdened with loans from relatives. And then came some good news: a neighbor told them about the canteen in the neighborhood children’s school was looking for a homemade food supplier. Since Sofa was a good cook she approached the management to allow her to become the supplier. Her test products got great remarks and the family fnally started to earn. Better days started and slowly life was becoming a little normal when Sofa started to feel blurring of objects. She went to a neighborhood doctor who diagnosed cataract and advised her to go to an eye hospital for surgery costing Rs. 30,000. This was way beyond her means. So she carried on until she started facing issues with school management due to late deliveries. She ‘‘ ‘‘ shared the reason with the school administrator who advised her to go to LRBT which offered free eye treatment for the poor.