Imphal, October 08, 2009: State health and family welfare minister, Ph Parijat today stressed the need for culturing habit of eye donation.

He was speaking as chief guest of the observance function of the 10th World Sight Day at Irawat Memorial Hall, Chalou today.

The observance function was organized by the Imphal East District Blindness Society with this year's theme "Gender and eye health-equal access to eye-care".

Further speaking, Parijat observed that eye is the most important part of human body.

When eye look at the objects, the idea of Health Minister Ph Parijat discovering and inventing new objects come up and become the world a developed one.

Killing resulted to the loss of priceless human parts.

Instead of killing each other, let's save each other, he called for.

Additional director of state health service, Dr Y Yajnia who attended the function as guest of honour said since India government started taking up blindness control programme for the first time in 1963, the step to check blindness started taken up as world.

In 1986.1.49 percent out of the total population could not see or affected by eye diseases.

The programme targeted to re duce to number to 0.3 per cent in 2000 which was not achieved.

Since the Loins Club International launched Sight First Project in 1998, every second Thursday of October has been observing as "World Sight Day".

The observance of the day targeted to eliminate blindness and eye related diseases totally by 2020. Speaking on the occasion, eye sergeant Dr Kh Kaminibabu of Central Mobile Ophthalmic Unit said globally, 314 million are blind or affected by eye sightedness problems.

Out of them 45 million are totally blind persons.

Out of the total blind persons 35 million are women while 15 million are men.

Malnutrition is the root cause of blindness.

So, soldiers of the second World War-II became blind in their old aged.

This was caused by their prolong starvation during the war time.

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