KARACHI, The role of Pakistan Eye bank Society (PEBS) for the cause of humanity was lauded at the 35th foundation day of the organization. Speaking on the occasion the Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Karachi, Dr. Christian Brecht, said the PEBS was an organisation that had done much to lessen the burden of suffering humanity in Pakistan.

The President of PEBS, Abdul Majeed, in his welcome speech pointed out that the PEBS had come a long way since its inception in 1974. He said the Pakistan Eye Bank Society was treating 4,000 patients annually and to date treated more than three million patients. Majeed informed that the process has been initiated to turn the PEBS Hospital in North Karachi into a full-fledged general hospital which would specialize in treating cancer and diabetes patients besides eye diseases.

He said this hospice was located in a low-income group area and rendering great service to the people of Karachi and the country. Majeed paid homage to the founder of the society, late Iftikhar Hussain. The Secretary Pakistan Eye Bank Society, Qazi Sajid Ali, said their philosophy was that the government alone could not do enough to ameliorate people's sufferings, and NGOs should help in this respect. Speaking about PEBS background, he said the idea was to start an eye bank and procure corneas for transplant into blind people.

This movement started in 1960 in Karachi with an eye donation campaign repeated regularly. In the 70s, students and youth organised countrywide campaigns to donate corneas. This eventually led to the laying of the foundation stone of the PEBS Hospital on July 4, 1974. One of the first projects undertaken created a record at the time, when during one week, 104 blind people had their sight restored through cornea grafts. The next major project was setting up of a PEBS hospital in Rawalpindi to provide expert medical treatment to people of the north and the Potohar region. PEBS now operates hospitals in Peshawar and Balochistan.

He said PEBS had organised eye camps in Sri Lanka in gratitude for the corneas provided by the people of that country. Qazi Sajid Ali said he was proud to say the Pakistan Eye Bank Society was working on a national level and enjoyed the people's support. To date, PEBS had provided 15,000 corneas. It had also trained 5,000 teachers for screening children with defective vision. It has thus treated 38,000 children with defective vision. The PEBS had also collected pledges from 36,000 people donating their corneas. A maxiofacial unit had been set up in PEBS North Karachi Hospital, the first in the area. However, he urged people to help the organisation even more, as PEBS was wholly dependent on the charity f people and philanthropists.