EC funds eye care in tribal areas

The European Commission (EC) has recently set aside just under half a million dollars for an eye-care programme which aims at reducing the risk of preventable and curable blindness in three districts of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and in Pakistan’s tribal areas over the next five years, according to a press release issued on Wednesday. Implemented in cooperation with the Government of NWFP, Sight Savers International and the Pakistan Institute of Community Ophthalmology (PICO), the programme aims to conduct cataract operations and restore sight to 13,500 people per year. Medical teams will begin by clearing a backlog of 47,000 cases of cataract. The European Union Ambassador to Pakistan, Kurt Juul, told IRIN that in the past the EC had been involved in infrastructural projects, but now considered that the priorities for Pakistan were primary health and primary education. “The Social Action Programme [SAP] is really a pump-priming exercise where, through our efforts, we try to encourage the government to do a bit more,” he said. The EC has earmarked US $63 million for its SAP, out of a total contribution of US $178 million of assistance to Pakistan over the next five years.