Bangladeshi President Iajuddin Ahmed inaugurated International Eye Bank Symposium here Saturday, calling for waging social movement in favor of corneal donation.

Ahmed called upon the conscious sections of society to come forward to wage social movement in favor of corneal donation among the mass people for restoring sight of the blind.

"Eye professionals, community opinion leaders and people from all sections of society can play important roles in building mass awareness about corneal donation," he said.

He mentioned that although the ultimate treatment of corneal transplant may help in restoring vision in many corneal patients, it is more important to prevent corneal diseases that lead to blindness.

The president said access to eye-health information and education needs to be expanded for all in order to preserve and save sight for those who are suffering from avoidable blindness.

According to statistics, there are about 100,000 corneal blind people in Bangladesh. Many of their sight could be restored through corneal transplantation.

The two-day symposium has attracted Eye Bank experts from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, China, Iran and the United States.

(Xinhua News Agency October 21, 2007)