By Tripti Pal | Project Leader
Out of the 45 million blind people worldwide, there are over 15 Million blind residing in India. This makes every 3rd blind person in the world an Indian and makes India the country with the largest absolute number of blind people in the world.
According to the National Blindness Programme for Blindness Control, cataract is the single largest cause of blindness in India (62.6%) of total cases followed by Refractive Errors (19.7%). Bothe these causes are easily treatable. 90% of the blindness in India is avoidable through prevention or cure and is mainly related to cataract in adults and refractive errors in children.
Blindness mostly affects the most vulnerable segment of the population – the elderly – and can cripple not just the lives of these individuals due to dependency and exploitation but also that of their families. They try to seek services that are distant and of questionable quality and at a cost beyond their reach.
To expand its reach and relevance ICARE conducts a rural outreach program to provide modern Eye Care Services at the doorstep. This hospital over the last 25 years has been providing sight care services to all sections of the society irrespective of the person’s ability to pay. ICARE does this by conducting over 500 screening camps each year at its rural pick- up centers in neighboring states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Patients requiring detailed examination or surgery are transported to ICARE Hospital at NOIDA. Post surgery they are dropped back to the camp site from which they were picked. Their 3 days stay, surgery, board and lodging including their transport are all free.
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