200,000 eye lenses to be distributed free-of-charge by end of 2019 : Rajitha

Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne has said that 200,000 lenses would be distributed free-of-charge by the end of this year despite objections from five percent of the country's doctors.

Speaking to the press following an inspection tour at the National Eye Hospital today (Mar 12), Mr. Senaratne noted that 100,000 eye lenses were distributed during the last eight months.

He recounted that objections concerning the quality of these eye lenses were raised when the government had announced its decision to distribute them free-of-charge. However, these lenses, he said, have been imported from the US at a cost of over Rs 80,000 each in order to maintain a high quality standard.

"Nearly 67,000 eye-related surgeries have been conducted without levying a fee from the people this year," Minister Senaratne said while pointing out that some 1.2 million people are affected by eye-related diseases which are left unattended due to economic constraints of the public.

(Reporting by Damith Wickramasekara)