A SENIOR medical official from the Department of Health praised the efforts of eye surgeons in working to prevent blindness, at the 19th Ophthalmic Surgeons’ Conference held at the headquarters of the Myanmar Medical Associa-tion on November 19.

Dr San Shwe Wynn, the department’s deputy director general, said trachoma, which had in the past been the main cause of blindness in Myanmar, has dropped to the fourth leading cause of the disability.

According to the Department of Health, the main causes of blindness are cataracts, glaucoma, posterior segment disease, trachoma, corneal diseases and trauma, in that order.

He said according to a 1998 survey by the department’s Trachoma Control and Prevention of Blindness Project, more than 700,000 people in Myanmar suffered from blindness, or about 0.58 percent of the population.

He said the Ministry of Health was establishing eye care centres at the state, division and townships levels, and was also providing trained ophthalmologists and necessary equipment to achieve success in the fight against blindness.

Professor Dr Mya Aung, the president of the Myanmar Ophthalmological Society under the Myanmar Medical Association, said there were just over 200 ophthalmologists in Myanmar, or about one for every 300,000 people in the country.

He said ophthalmologists conducted about 30,000 cataract operations a year in Myanmar, taking part in outreach eye care trips to treat as many patients as possible.

Dr Khin Nyein Lin, the project manager of the Trachoma Control and Prevention of Blindness Project, said the trachoma incidence rate last year ranged from one to five people per 1000 population.

“The project is now conducting a rapid assessment of trachoma in collaboration with the World Health Organisa-tion,” she said.