CONTACT LENS PRACTICE AND SALE (Legislation)

Mr Ang Nam Piau asked the Minister for Health if he will consider introducing legislation to control contact lens practice and the sale of contact lenses.

The Minister for Health (Dr Toh Chin Chye): Mr Speaker, Sir, in the last two years, 26 patients using contact lenses were found by the Eye Department to have suffered from cornea abrasions, ulcers and allergy. The Ministry will consider legislation on the prescription and sale of contact lenses after further studies. Meanwhile, I would advise those who are using contact lenses for cosmetic reasons, rather than for medical reasons, to go back to spectacles which avoid foreign material from coming into contact with eye tissues. In any case, the Member for Thomson should know that contact lenses are expensive. If he is wearing contact lenses, he should know that he is liable to lose them while drinking his soup, or to drop them in the sink while washing his face, or to lose them in the toilet or lose them in some other way.