Unknown and untreated vision problems in India are a leading cause of blindness in children. Blindness and vision problems are not only a health issue but are the most important social problems worldwide with immense economic implications. The major causes of a children vision problem in the world are socio economic under-development and the unavailability of primary health care and eye care services in a country like ours. Medical services are not available in time to treat cases of even a minor vision problem. This may lead to other major eye problems and at times even blindness in the younger generation.
During my experience of teaching underprivileged children, I realised that children had no clue that due to vision problem their academic performance was adversely affected. Doing their own regular chores is also a huge challenge for these children. A timely detection and vision correction through prescription glasses or spectacles can make a huge difference in the lives of these underprivileged children.
During my research on the vision problems, I found that even the World Health Organization (WHO) is running an awareness program since 1999. WHO reports that there are approximately 19 million visually impaired children in the world, and 1.4 million are blind. In India, one out of every 1000 children is estimated to be blind. About half of the causes of blindness and visual impairment are potentially preventable or treatable. Timely and periodic screening is critical for the detection of visual impairment in children.
To address this, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) initiated project ‘Vision 2020: the Right to Sight’ with the aim of eliminating avoidable blindness and preventing the projected doubling of avoidable visual impairment by 2020. VISION 2020 advocates for increased awareness of the need for low vision services.
Through my project ‘Mission Vision’ I am trying to bring change in the life of these children for a brighter future by timely identifying and rectifying their vision by providing them with spectacles. I hope through this project I can contribute towards the larger noble cause of the World Health Organization.
References:
https://www.nhp.gov.in/disease/blood-lymphatic/low-vision-and-visuai-aids
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC503526
https://www.who.int/bulletin/archives/79(3)227.pdf
http://www.vision2020india.org/
https://www.iapb.org/vision-2020/
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