Prime Minister said that no war could be won in Afghanistan without Pakistan's support, but, "we do not want to interfere in the internal affairs of any country including Afghanistan. The war against terrorism can not be won without Pakistani help," he added. About Pakistan's role in war against terrorism, he said that the Pakistan had a great importance in the region because of its strategic position.
He said that Pakistan was looking forward towards a stable Afghanistan, which is vital for stability in the region. "Pakistan is also working for good relations with all the neighbouring countries including Afghanistan to bring stability and peace to the region."
To another question, he said that the Ministry of Defence was making arrangements for safe secure landing of planes in Parachanar. He dispelled the impression that government was creating any hurdle in the implementation of Supreme Court's decision on NRO. He said that the government had never defended NRO at any forum and was implementing the verdicts of the court. "It is the implementation of the court verdict that the ministers, against whom are NAB references, are appearing before the courts in person," he added.
When asked about the immunity to President, he said that there was no difference of opinion with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) over the immunity to President under Article 248 of the Constitution. He said that the bill to scrap 17th constitutional amendment would be tabled in the parliament before next joint session.
The bill seeks to implement Charter of Democracy, granting provincial autonomy, revoking 58(2)B and restriction on third time prime ministership. To another question, he said the parliamentary committee on constitutional reforms had almost completed its task, hoping that it will present its report before the National Assembly soon.
About the absence of federal secretaries from parliament galleries during the sessions, he said, "we cannot make the government hostage by ensuring presence of federal secretaries in the galleries all the time." However, he said, the government would ensure that representatives of concerned ministries should sit in the galleries and take notes about their ministries and pass the relevant matters to the concerned ministries.
"The government takes very seriously the business of the parliament and I myself take questions on the floor of the house when and where required," he added. Earlier addressing the ceremony, PM said that it was a matter of great pleasure for him to inaugurate the National Glaucoma Awareness Campaign, a leading cause of irreversible blindness.
He said that according to the available data, 20 percent of disabled persons in Pakistan were blind or visually impaired. "This is widely known that 80 percent of blindness is avoidable with simple prevention measures and timely treatment," he added.
"The facts and figures presented here, show that more than half of the blindness in Pakistan is due to cataract and glaucoma, which is easily avoidable with timely intervention," he added.
He said that the Vision-2020 was a global initiative of the World Health Organisation, in collaboration with other international agencies to make the world free from avoidable blindness by the year 2020. He reiterated that the government of Pakistan was fully committed to Vision 2020, as a part of its National Programme for Prevention and Control of Blindness.
"All key tertiary and majority of the district headquarters hospitals of Pakistan have been equipped with necessary machinery for the control of blindness related diseases. Moreover, 147 Tehsil Headquarter hospitals are being upgraded with necessary equipment. Human Resource Development is pivotal for effective service delivery. A training institute in each province is providing medical education to eye health professionals with the support of international partners," the Prime Minister said.
He said that under the Vision 2020, Pakistan had been recognised as a success story, which was a testimony to the teamwork being done under the umbrella of the government of Pakistan. This programme was initiated by our great leader Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto.
He said that it was a matter of great satisfaction that 50,000 lady health workers (LHWs) would be trained in primary eye care including Glaucoma by the end of this year with the support of the government of Pakistan and International partners under the supervision of Secretary Health and National Programme for Prevention and Control of Blindness.
"Only in 2009, the LHWs examined about eight million patients at the community level and provided basic treatment to seven million patients. This is recognition of the great work done by these LHWs. In recent years, health experts have observed changes in the pattern of blindness across the world especially glaucoma," he noted.
Prime Minister Gilani said that with improved knowledge, more cases of glaucoma were being reported. "However, in majority of the cases, it is difficult to restore the loss as most of the patients suffering from this mysterious and irreversible disease turn up when the disease is far advanced and has already caused profound loss of vision," he added. He was confident that implementation of these guidelines would enable early detection and proper treatment of glaucoma.