12 lose eyesight

"Several persons, most of them senior citizens, who were operated upon on January 11 at a cataract surgery camp in Barabanki district here have lost their vision a few days after operation.

An FIR has been lodged by the health department of Barabanki district against Kanpur-based NGO Maa Vashnavi Charitable Chikitsa Sewa Sansthan, that had conducted the camp. The organisation has even been blacklisted.

Nearly two-dozen patients have been admitted at the Balrampur hospital here with swelling in the eyes and loss of vision. “The vision loss seems to have happened due to infection. A team of three eye surgeons has been deputed to look after these patients,” said Dr MK Saxena, chief medical superintendent of the hospital.

The NGO was reportedly only given permission for conducting screening of patients at the camp and the operations were to be performed at the Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Trivediganj.

However, the operations were conducted at the camp site, a college, without informing the Medical Officer (In Charge) of the Trivediganj PHC or the concerned health officials."