Pollution and poor nutrition suspected causes of eye disease

Factories and industrial plants in the eastern Uzbek town of Ferghana in conjunction with poor nutrition are believed to be causing eye problems among children. Several health officials told IRIN in Ferghana that the oil refinery, together with some chemical plants we affecting the health of the local population, particularly children, living in the town's industrial district of Qirguli. "Eye diseases among the children are on the rise," they said, adding that local children were also suffering from skin problems. Although no research has been carried out to assess the environmental impact of the industries on the health of local people, the belief that it has a detrimental effect on health is widespread. Another aspect of the issue is the lack of vitamins due to poor nutrition. "It is no secret that children's nutrition is poor due to economic difficulties. People cannot afford some necessary ingredients in their diet," one health official said. These factors tend to have a detrimental impact on the immune system of young people. Meanwhile, an effort to tackle the issue of vitamin A deficiency has recently been made with the support of the United Nations Children's Fund, (UNICEF) which has provided the dietary supplement for distribution. "The primary aim of vitamin A immunisation is to strengthen the immune system of children and prevent eye diseases. Many children have got anaemia, and as vitamin A plays a role in increasing haemoglobin levels in blood, we have conducted supplementation [of it]," Yakutkhon Askarova, the head of the children's clinics at the Ferghana oil refinery, told IRIN. Almost 3,000 children aged from six months to five years were covered by the campaign in Qirguli, while the total number of children in the district is about 15,000. "We covered all the children that we planned to, and moreover we exceeded the target number, as many parents themselves have asked [us] to immunise their children as well," Askarova said. Health personnel initially visited all the residential buildings and held educational sessions with parents and elder children. As a result, children with development problems, such as rickets, hypertrophy and eye diseases - the main risk group - were identified for supplementation. Askarova said she and her colleagues now hoped that their recent action would bring about the expected. Ferghana is the main industrial town of the Uzbek part of the Ferghana Valley. It has an oil refinery, a chemical plant and two factories, respectively producing imitation leather and chemical fibres. During the days of the Russian empire, Ferghana was the capital of the province with same name, at that time comprising most of the valley's territory.