Reducing avoidable blindness:
Since the 1990s, new data on visual impairment have been released by WHO. In 2002, more than 161 million people globally were visually impaired due to eye diseases (refractive error as a cause of visual impairment was not included in this statistic), 124 million of whom had low vision and 37 million were blind. Worldwide, for each person who becomes blind due to an eye disease, an average of 3.4 people have low vision, with country and regional variations ranging from 2.4 to 5.5. In 2006, WHO released new global estimates, which for the first time, included the global magnitude of visual impairment due to uncorrected refractive errors, accounting for an additional 153 million people. At least 13 million children (aged 5–15) and 45 million working-age adults (aged 16–49) were affected globally (Figure 2). Thus, according to WHO estimates, there are approximately 314 million people around the world whose vision is impaired, due either to eye diseases or uncorrected refractive errors. Of this number, 45 million people are blind. This statistic does not include uncorrected presbyopia, the prevalence of which is unknown. And to address these ophthalmic issues Kalinga Eye Hospital conducts more than 220 outreach eye screening cum treatment camps in a year and more than 100,000 people get direct benefit out of that. Apart from that variety of initiatives were taken by Kalinga Eye Hospital to reduce the avoidable blindness and some of them are like;

• • Mission Netrotsav
  • • • In order to reduce avoidable blindness and improve the quality of life for many residents of Dhenkanal district, an initiative has been launched by Kalinga Eye Hospital in cooperation with the District Administration. “Mission Netrotsav” (Celebration of Sight) organizes comprehensive eye screening campaigns for various segments of the population. Partnering with civil groups, NGOs, corporations, and nodal agencies of the government, this initiative seeks to eradicate avoidable blindness in the target groups and ensure the requisite eye care.
      • These target groups include schoolchildren, drivers, cleaners, villages of MADA and cluster areas, people of NAC/Municipality areas, handloom weavers, artisans, employees, laborers, construction workers, contractual labourers of industrial plants, periphery villages of factories and mines, and Beedi Shramiks.
      • The project’s name derives from the annual ceremony in Odisha known as Netrotsav, wherein Lord Jagannath gets His eyes painted. Similarly, it is our vision to touch the eyes of these segments of the population through Mission Netrotsav.
• • Forest Outreach Programme
  • • • Bringing eye care to the densely forested regions of Odisha is a challenge for health care providers. However, it is a challenge that needs to be surmounted for the benefit of the people who live in these forested regions. Kalinga Eye Hospital is working with the Odisha Forestry Sector Development Project to reach the previously unserved (not underserved) populations residing in the forests, through the Vision Technician Training program. This VTT program trains a member from each village to recognize eye conditions. This way, the village member can identify people with eye problems and can bring them to a centrally located village to be examined by a certified eye specialist. Training community members to do the first step and identify people with eye conditions saves doctors time and is consequently more cost effective. In addition, it allows screening to be done throughout the year and allows earlier detection of eye conditions. Finally, this initiative is sustainable, because it empowers the local community members and reduces their reliance on external doctors.
• • Child Eye Care
  • • • The World Bank has deemed combating childhood blindness the most cost-effective of all health interventions. Childhood blindness is considered a priority area in global blindness prevention, due to the number of years of blindness that will ensue, devastating families and keeping children from contributing to their communities. In addition to hurting educational opportunities, childhood blindness severely affects employment and earning potentials later in life. Early onset blindness adversely affects psychomotor, social, and emotional development, and blind children have a much higher death rate compared to their sighted peers.
      • In an effort to address the need for paediatric eye care, Kalinga Eye Hospital has partnered with ORBIS International, USA to develop the state’s first paediatric eye care centre, which was dedicated to the people of Odisha on 5th March 2009. As of December 2013, Kalinga Eye Hospital has reached more than 500,000 children in the state and has restored the sight of 6,143 children through refractive corrected glasses and 599 children through sight restoration surgeries.
• • Diabetes Eye Care
  • • • Diabetic retinopathy has been identified as one of the significant causes of blindness and visual impairment in India. Today, there are 67 million diabetics in India, and every diabetic is a potential candidate for loss of vision from diabetic retinopathy. Over 75% of patients who have diabetes mellitus for more than 20 years will have some form of diabetic retinopathy. However, it is important to recognize that the issues of managing vision impairment from diabetic retinopathy are different from those of cataracts. While cataract blindness is curable by a simple one-time surgical intervention, diabetic retinopathy encompasses a multitude of problems. It can be treated if detected in the early stages, but cannot be reversed once vision is lost. Unfortunately, it is an asymptomatic condition at the treatable stage, so by the time a person presents for treatment after noticing loss of vision, it often is too late for intervention. Thus, it is extremely important for diabetics to receive routine eye screening, because only eye care professionals can recognize the early signs of diabetic retinopathy.
      • To combat this problem, Kalinga Eye Hospital, Dhenkanal partnered with the World Diabetes Foundation to establish an educational campaign to raise awareness for diabetes and its complications. During this project’s operation between 1 May 2009 and 30 June 2012:
      • 515,200 people were educated on diabetes and diabetes-related eye diseases.
      • 96 medical personnel (51 GPs, 19 Ophthalmologists, 13 Medical Specialists, and 13 Medical PG students) received training through CME.
      • 1590 community workers were trained in support of the local district administration.
      • 109 screening camps were conducted.
      • 67, 835 people were screened for diabetes.
      • 12,528 people were diagnosed with diabetes, counseled, and referred for treatment.
      • 1002 patients received the laser treatment for diabetic retinopathy, at no cost.
• • Empowering Local Communities
  • • • Dr. G. Venkataswamy once said that eye care services do not operate in a vacuum, but that they should be viewed in the broader context of the society for which it is intended. Hence, development of skilled manpower oriented to the needs of the community is vital in our crusade against needless blindness. In contrast to an individualised health-care system, our approach to eye care aims at improving the eye health of the entire community. Kalinga Eye Hospital has taken eye care to the grassroots level by empowering the local communities to detect common eye problems amongst themselves and to make referrals to the nearest ophthalmic center at the earliest possible time.
• • Vision Center Model
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    Many of the existing strategies for eye care in rural Odisha are in the form of temporary eye services. These outreaches focus primarily on cataracts as a cause of blindness and lack a more comprehensive approach that can serve a community on a permanent basis. It is estimated that only 10% of people who need eye care are able to receive it through these temporary services, and populations in rural areas and urban slums often lack access to any other affordable eye care. Thus, avoidable blindness and visual impairment can only be tackled by comprehensive care.
    Kalinga Eye Hospital has addressed this issue by installing three Vision Centers in strategic locations of the state. These Vision centers function as primary eye care facilities which screen patients and address common conditions such as uncorrected refractive errors. Nearly 80% of eye problems can be treated at the primary care centers, and the remaining 20% are referred to the secondary or tertiary care centers for surgery or further treatment. This model has greatly reduced the cost of receiving eye care for people in previously underserved areas, and renders services to more than 300,000 people in the three zones.

• The Centre for Community Ophthalmology
• • This institute, based at Kalinga Eye Hospital, trains healthcare and managerial personnel in the development and implementation of efficient and sustainable eye care programmes.