Prime Minister Gordon Brown's contact lens hygiene made the headlines this week after he accidently washed a lens down a sink plughole, threatening to delay a speech to a party conference.
The incident happened as the Prime Minister was freshening up before taking to the stage at a Scottish Labour event in Dundee last Friday, reported the Times newspaper.
Without a spare lens, party officials were forced to take drastic action to retrieve the lost lens by detaching a pipe from beneath the sink to fish it out. The loss of the lens could have led to the cancellation of the speech as the Prime Minister is blind in his left eye and it was recently reported that he was experiencing problems with his right eye.
Commenting on the hygiene risks involved with this incident, BCLA president, ophthalmologist Dr Sarah Janikoun, said: 'Gas-permeable lenses aren't as popular as they once were, but one of the great things about them is that they can be retrieved from 'U' bends, disinfected and used. I have done it myself with my own lenses. Soft lenses can also be disinfected but it tends to take a bit longer.'
