Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Sep 30, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Sep 30, 2003 |
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Industry & Economy
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Health Blindness eradication drive in AP lauded K.V. Kurmanath
Hyderabad , Sept. 29 IMPRESSED by Andhra Pradesh Government's initiative on eradicating blindness in the State, the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) World Health Assembly has asked all developing countries to emulate Andhra Pradesh by 2005 to step up anti-blindness activities, Dr Hannah Faal, President of IAPB, told Business Line. "Eighty per cent of the world's blind live in developing countries. There are an estimated 45 million blind people, including 9 million in India, and 1.5 million blind children in the world. Eighty per cent of the blind live in rural areas. And eighty per cent of blindness is avoidable," she said. The number of the blind is likely to go up to 75 million by 2020 if current trends continue. Of every ten blind people, seven live in Asia and two in Africa. Six of the ten can be cured by cataract surgery, while three more could be prevented from going blind. "What's happening here is unique," she said, referring to the Vision 2020: the Right to Sight programme launched by the State Government as part of the global effort taken up by the World Health Organisation and IAPB. She was in the city to felicitate the Chief Minister, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, for his "support for the global fight against blindness by taking up blindness prevention programme".
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