Bihar wants ICMR to probe congenital blindness

PATNA - Twentyeight cases of congenital blindness have been reported in a span of few months in Bihar’s Bhojpur district, prompting the state government to approach the New Delhi-based Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to examine the reasons.

“The government sent a request to the ICMR after a team of doctors from Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) failed to ascertain the reasons behind it,” a health department official told IANS.

The PMCH team rejected the possibility of congenital blindness in new-borns due to high arsenic content in water.

Bihar Health Minister Nand Kishore Yadav said the health department had also approached experts in the US.

The cases have been reported from villages under Bihiya, Sahpur and Barehara blocks, about 60 km from here.