YANGON, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar authorities have urged for giving priority to working on eye-care services, vision test and treatment, according to the Ministry of Health and Sports Friday.
Minister Dr. Myint Htwe made the call at function marking the World Sight Day in Magway region Thursday with the theme of "Vision First."
Myint Htwe cited the survey figures conducted in 2017 as saying that 2.9 percent of Myanmar people, who were 50 years old and above, lost their vision and 70 percent were due to glaucoma.
Calling for effective treatment on cataract to prevent and reduce vision loss, Myint Htwe stressed the need to train and produce more optometrists, ophthalmologists and opticians for providing special eye-care services in the country.
Myanmar had met with the World Health Organization (WHO)'s Elimination Criteria for Trachoma and arranged to conduct a survey in 2020 to announce the elimination of trachoma in Myanmar.
