Eliminating Visual Impairment Through Early Screening of Cataract

February 6, 2024 jivika_admin No Comments

Imagine that one day you open your eyes in the morning and find out that you cannot see anything. Sounds quite scary, right. Blindness or visual impairment is not only associated with a person’s physical health, but also with a person’s mental health. Cataract is one of the most common and highly preventable cause of visual impairment around the world. According to World Health Organization, cataract is responsible for 47.8% of blindness and accounting for 17.7 million blind people. In India cataract has been responsible for 50-80% of the bilaterally blind in the country.

According to an article published on World Sight Day (13^th October), 2022 Indians are more prone to getting cataract about 10 years earlier than the people residing in western countries. The average age of getting cataract in India is between 50-60 years. Genetic factors account for 10-30% of pediatric cataract cases. High exposure to UV rays due to sunny tropical climate is also a reason for early cataract formation and progression in our country. The rising case of diabetes in India adds to the burden.

50 Years old Mrs. Talo Manjhi

Early diagnosis and treatment is vital in preventing cataract caused blindness. Jivika Healthcare’s Health and Wellness Center On Wheels offers cataract screening facility along with more than 20 disease conditions screening facilities to the last miles. A 73 years old lady, named Mrs. Raj Lakshmi Devi came with a complaint of blurred vision since six months. After screening it was found that she had cataract in left eye with bilateral pterygium. She also earlier diagnosed of vitiligo and hypertension, but she skipped her

hypertension medicines. She was counseled by the Medical Officer to take regular hypertension medicine and was referred to District Hospital for treatment of cataract.
Through cataract screening facilities in hard to reach villages, HWCOnWheels is ensuring early treatment through referral of cataract patients to Government healthcare facility for treatment. We are immensely grateful to our partners- Government of Jharkhand, Rockefeller Foundation, Give, BCG, USAID, Jhpiego and Nishtha for supporting us in taking the holistic healthcare facilities close to the underserved communities through HWConWheels.