If someone in your family has been told that a cataract needs an operation, the next question is nearly always about money. This guide sets out cataract surgery in Karachi in plain words. What a cataract actually is, what the operation involves, what the Eye Unit at PEBS Hospital does, and how to ask about free and Zakat funded treatment without anybody guessing.
What a cataract actually is
The United States National Eye Institute describes a cataract as a cloudy area in the lens of the eye, the clear part that helps focus light. The Institute explains that when you are young the lens is clear, and that from around the age of forty the proteins inside it begin to break down and clump together. That clump is the cloudy patch. Over time it spreads across more of the lens.
Two things follow from that. A cataract is a change inside the lens itself. It is not dust sitting on the surface of the eye, and it is not something drops wash away. And it is common with age. The National Eye Institute says most cataracts are simply related to getting older, although an eye injury, or surgery for another eye problem, can also cause one. It lists diabetes, smoking, heavy drinking, long hours in strong sun, some steroid medicines and a family history among the things that raise the risk.
You can have a cataract in one eye or in both. The Institute notes that a cataract cannot spread from one eye to the other, so a good eye does not catch it from the weaker one.
The signs people notice first
Early on there may be nothing to notice at all. As the cloudy area grows, the National Eye Institute lists the changes people report. Vision that looks cloudy or blurry. Colours that seem faded. Trouble seeing at night. Lamps, sunlight or headlights that feel far too bright. A halo around lights. Double vision. Needing the spectacle prescription changed more often than before.
Those same signs can belong to other eye conditions, which is exactly why the Institute advises talking to an eye doctor rather than deciding for yourself what is causing them.
Why waiting has a cost
The National Eye Institute is direct on this point. Surgery is the only way to get rid of a cataract. Brighter lamps at home, anti glare sunglasses, a magnifying lens for reading and an updated spectacle prescription can all help while a cataract is mild, but none of them removes it.
The Institute also says you may not need surgery straight away, and that a doctor may suggest it once the cataract begins getting in the way of ordinary activities such as reading, cooking or moving safely around the house. So the decision in front of you is not surgery today or nothing at all. It is an examination now, an honest conversation about how much the cataract is costing you day to day, and a plan you understand.
What the operation involves
In cataract surgery the doctor removes the clouded lens and puts an artificial one in its place, which the National Eye Institute calls an intraocular lens. You can read the Institute’s full patient page on cataracts and how they are treated.
What we are not going to publish is a recovery timetable, a drop schedule or a promise about what you will see afterwards. Those belong to the surgeon who has examined your eye, and to nobody else.
Where cataract surgery in Karachi happens at PEBS
PEBS states that it began building its hospital in 1985 and that the hospital became operational in 1993, offering complete ophthalmic services including cataract surgeries, many of which are provided free of cost. The Eye Unit dates from that same year and is headed by Dr Kashif Farooqui.
The PEBS Hospital services page lists what the Eye Unit has for assessment. Slit lamp evaluation, auto refraction testing, perimetry, puff tonometry, A and B scans, and optical coherence tomography. On the surgical side it lists cataract surgery, vitreoretinal surgery, corneal transplantation, YAG laser procedures and DCR. That is the published list, and we have added nothing to it. If you need to know whether a particular test is running on the day you come, ask the OPD before you travel.
What it costs, and what we will not guess
Here is the honest position on cataract surgery in Karachi at this hospital. PEBS does not publish a patient price list, and this article is not going to invent one. There is no OPD fee, package price or waiting time printed on the site, so there is none printed here either.
What PEBS does publish is a donor figure. On the donation page, PKR 20,000 is listed as the cost of funding one cataract surgery. Please read that for exactly what it is. It is the amount a donor gives so that one operation can be carried out for a patient who cannot pay. It is not a bill handed to a patient and it is not a quotation for your family.
If you need a real number for your own situation, one phone call will get you a real answer instead of a guess.
The free and Zakat funded route
PEBS states that the hospital receives no government funding, and that every service for the underprivileged is made possible by donors and volunteers. It also states that it runs a dedicated Zakat fund with, in its own words, a rigorous verification process ensuring funds are used strictly for eligible mustahiq patients, and that the Zakat accounts are separately audited.
What the site does not publish is the detail every family actually wants. Who assesses an application. What papers to bring. How long a decision takes. We have deliberately left that gap open rather than fill it with assumptions, because a wrong answer here sends a family on a journey for nothing. Ask on the phone, or ask at reception when you arrive, and write down what you are told.
If you live too far to travel
Not every family can reach North Karachi. Through its Gift of Life medical camps, PEBS states that teams travel to remote and underserved areas to screen, treat and operate free of cost, and that more than 10,000 cataract surgeries have been carried out in remote areas. The medical camps page also states that complex cases are referred to PEBS Hospital in Karachi for free specialist care.
Camp dates and locations change. A wrong date means a wasted journey for someone who already cannot see well enough to make it twice, so there is no schedule printed here. Phone and ask where the next camp is going to be.
Protecting the eye you still have
Nothing on this page will reverse a cataract that has already formed, and the National Eye Institute is clear that surgery is the treatment. The Institute does list sensible steps for protecting your eyes generally. Wear sunglasses and a hat with a brim against strong sun. Wear protective eyewear for power tools and for sports where something can strike the eye. Stop smoking. Eat plenty of fruit, vegetables, leafy greens, nuts and whole grains.
None of that is a substitute for an examination. If your vision has changed, get it looked at.
What to do this week
Three practical steps, in order.
First, phone the OPD and ask for an appointment for an eye examination. Second, when you call, ask your money question plainly, including whether free or Zakat funded treatment may be possible in your case, and note the answer down. Third, bring any old spectacles and any medicine list with you, and bring someone who can hear the answers with you if your sight makes reading difficult.
The contact page carries the address in Sector 14-B, Shadman Town, North Karachi, and the OPD hours, which are Monday to Saturday, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
Cloudy vision is worth a conversation, not a wait. Speak to an eye specialist about your own eyes and book an appointment on 021-36908053.
Have a question about your eyes?
PEBS Hospital in North Karachi can examine you and explain your options. Call the helpline on 021-36908053, or send a message and the team will reply.
This article is general information and does not replace an examination by an eye doctor.
