KARACHI, Oct 14: A large number of handicapped people participated in a walk organized to mark the White-cane Safety Day, observed throughout the world on Thursday.

A good number of people joined the blind and hearing-impaired students of the Ida Rieu School and College for the Blind and Deaf and the Shaheed-i-Millat Institute in the walk that was led by noted artist and social worker Jimmy Engineer.

The walk was organized to create awareness of the problems being faced by blind people in particular and other handicapped ones in general. Speaking on the occasion, Jimmy Engineer said that in the developed countries, handicapped people enjoyed privileges, facilities and benefits, but in this country they were deprived of even due rights.

He appealed to philanthropists and well-off people to come forward and extend whatever assistance they could to this deserving segment of the society. He also appreciated the services of the institutions of disabled people.

He also expressed concern over the government's indifferent attitude towards the job quota fixed for special people, saying that the policy on the job quota had seldom been implemented.

LRBT: The Layton Rahmatllah Benevolent Trust (LRBT) Free Base Eye Hospital Korangi No 2 on Thursday celebrated the World Sight Day by holding lectures on awareness and prevention of blindness.

The day is observed internationally on Oct 14 every year to draw the attention of public and health care providers that 80 per cent cases of blindness can be either prevented or treated.

The day aims at raising global awareness about blindness and many related issues, including the availability of resources and services to combat the problem.

Experts on the occasion said that blindness was not just a health issue, but it was an issue related to poverty, with 90 per cent of all avoidable blindness cases occurring in the developing world. -PPI