LAHORE, 26 AUG, (DNA) – Australian High Commissioner to Pakistan, Margaret Adamson Friday inaugurated a new hostel at the King Edward Medical University in Lahore. The hostel will house 250 ophthalmic students, mostly women from remote areas of Pakistan.

The presence of on-campus safe accommodation will offer encouragement and motivation to female students and their families to join ophthalmology.

The Australian Government and the Fred Hollows Foundation jointly funded the hostel under the Pakistan Australia Prevention of Avoidable Blindness (PAPAB) project at the cost of PKR 75 million. The land for the building has been provided by the Government of Punjab.

Inaugurating the hostel High Commissioner Margaret Adamson said, “The availability of secure accommodation is an important step to encourage women, particularly those from remote areas of Pakistan, to build their careers through higher education.”

Margaret Adamson added, “The Australian Government’s continued support to the work of the Fred Hollows Foundation in Pakistan reflects our strong belief that providing quality care for those affected by various forms of blindness is key to improving their economic and social opportunities.”

The Pakistan Australia Prevention of Avoidable Blindness (PAPAB) project, funded by the Australian Government, is the fifth consecutive project by The Fred Hollows Foundation in Pakistan since 1998.

The College of Ophthalmology & Allied Vision Sciences (COAVS) / Kind Edward Medical University Lahore is a premier training institute providing quality training to Allied Ophthalmic Personnel in the country.

More than 600 ophthalmic personnel have already graduated from COAVS and are serving in public and private sector hospitals in Pakistan, playing a pivotal role in eliminating avoidable blindness. =DNA

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