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By Express News Service

BENGALURU: The economic burden of blindness in India in 2020 would be Rs 889 billion, stated a report titled 'Status of Child Eye Health in India' published by Orbis, an NGO that works in the prevention and treatment of blindness.

The Cumulative Gross National Income loss due to blindness is Rs 9,062 billion for adults and Rs 3,311 billion for children, for 10 and 40 lost working years, respectively. This can be attributed to the loss of economically productive years not of the visually impaired alone, but that of caregivers as well. The report was released on World Sight Day -- October 8.

Dr. Rishi Raj Borah, Country Director, Orbis India, said, The report brings to light 8 to 10 conditions in children that if diagnosed early can prevent childhood blindness. These include childhood cataract, childhood glaucoma, strabismus (Squint), amblyopia (Lazy Eye), refractive errors, retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and retinoblastoma."

The report highlights the urban-rural disparity urban areas have 1 ophthalmologist for 10,000 people but in rural areas it is 1 for every 2,50,000 people.

Some eye problems are present at birth, and others develop as the child grows between the age of 0 years to 10 years. Half of them are detectable and treatable and the remaining are not.

Explaining the reasons why early diagnosis of childhood blindness gets missed out in India, Dr. Parikshit Gogate, paediatric ophthalmologist, public health specialist and volunteer faculty at Orbis said, "There is a lack of trained specialists and sufficient manpower at Primary Health Centre and village level. There are not enough paediatric ophthalmologists and paediatric optometrists in the country. Anganwadi and ASHA workers are not trained to detect eye problems. MBBS doctors and nurses at the PHC may not have the knowledge or time to examine the child's eyes."

"There is a mindset among parents that younger children do not need spectacles and they feel wearing one is a sign of weakness. There is a lack of awareness on child blindness as the assumption is that only older people suffer from it. Another reason is the lack of public health infrastructure to detect and treat these conditions in the country," Dr. Gogate added.

Infrastructure includes specialised equipment, screening mechanism and charts for child screening. There is also a lack of coordination between gynaecologists, paediatricians and ophthalmologists, the report finds.

The report also highlights malnutrition, younger children being unable to comprehend that they have a vision problem, genetic factors, global warming and ultraviolet radiation, thermal pollution, heat pollution, water pollution and increased use of digital devices as other reasons for childhood blindness.

The report talks about the interventions that can improve child eye health in India the preventive model, eye screening, building awareness, focus on refractive error, expansion of healthcare, vaccination, Vitamin A supplementation, provision of visual aids etc.

Early detection of 35% of preventable causes of blindness in children can hugely reduce the economic burden of blindness in India, it added.

Read the rest here:
India will lose Rs 889 billion in 2020 to blindness: Report - The New Indian Express

This entry was posted on October 13, 2020 at 2:58 pm and is filed under Blindness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |