PESHAWAR: The Medical Teaching Institution Lady Reading Hospital has started free cornea transplantation to restore eyesight of the people blinded by diseases or trauma.

`On Tuesday, we did five cornea transplantation free of cost on young as well old people, who would regain their eyesight,` Prof Zafar Iqbal, lead surgeon, told Dawn.

He said that five corneas were sent by Association of Physicians of Pakistani of North America (Appna) to be transplanted to the needy people.

Prof Zafar said that the five patients including Mohammad Ubaid, 16, Mohammad Junaid, 16, Sabeena Bibi, 19, Owais Karim, 9, and Gul Mohammad, 50, had lost their eyesight due to trauma and degenerative diseases.

`All these people were examined at the outpatients department of the hospital. They were waiting for free transplantation. As soon as we received the shipment from the USA, we called them to operation theatre,` he said.

Prof Zafar said that chances of suc-cess were above 90 per cent contrary to the corneas from Sri Lanka and Nepal. He said that the patients would be examined every weel( for the first and then on monthly basis for one year after which their stitches would be removed.

`The patients have been advised to use sunglasses. We first conducted five transplantations free of charge in May in collaboration with APPNA. It was the second time that we did as many transplants,` said Prof Zafar.

He said that Dr Naeem Khan, a Pakistani cardiologist associated with Appna, was playing active part in sending the stuff that resulted in restoration of eyesight.

Prof Zafar said that Lion Eye Institute of the USA was providing the corneas to patientsin othercountries when they fulfilled needs of the local people in accordance with the American law. He said that cost of shipment was Rs100, 000.

The ophthalmologist said that people visiting the hospital with symptoms of Keratoconus -a disease which causing progressive thinning of cornea -were selected for transplantation. `Now we are going to select five more patients prior to sendingrequests for more corneas. Patients would get the same regardless of their financial status,` he added, Prof Zafar said that cornea transplantation was being done in the city for the past few years but the people paid for it whereas the assistance provided by Appna enabled them to graft corneas free of cost. He said that number of eye ailment had increased and about 3,000 patients were hospitalised in the eye ward of LRH every year.

`We have got 10 more specialists and run two operation theatres daily to cater to workload,` he said.

Experts also said that corneas were being provided to people on payment in private hospitals in contravention of The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Medical Transplantation Regulatory Authority Act, 2014, which prohibited selling and buying of human organs.

They said that the law enforced by the provincial government was aimed at ensuring that transplantation was done free of cost and upon the will of the organ donor and the recipient.

They said that the patients were charged Rs150,000 at the private hospitals. Some of the public sector hospitals also charged the patients for corneatransplantation, they said.