Reducing the 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;
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- Mission Netrotsav
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- To improve the quality of life by reducing avoidable blindness in the district of Dhenkanal, an initiative has been launched by Kalinga Eye Hospital with the District Administration in mission mode named “Mission Netrotsav” (Celebration of Sight) under which comprehensive eye screening campaigns were organized targeting various segments of population with the participation of the community, civil groups, NGOs, Corporations & nodal agencies of Government with the aim to make the target mass free of avoidable blindness & ensure the requisite eye care.
- This project has been named after the ceremony in Odisha wherein Lord Jagannath gets His eyes painted every yearknown as “Netrotsav”. Similarly it has been our vision to give eye sight to the particular segment of the population through a campaign/ Mission which can be renewed as Mission Netrotsav.
- People from different areas like School Children/ Pre-school children, Drivers & Cleaners, Villages of MADA & Cluster areas,Population of NAC/ Municipality areas, Handloom weavers, Artisans, Periphery villages of industries & mines,Employees & Labourers, including contractual labourers of industrial plants, Building construction workers and Beedi Shramiks have able to avail eye care services.
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- Forestry Programme
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- 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, which trains a member from each village to recognize eye conditions, and these identified people can be brought to a centrally located village and now can be examined by a technical person (saves doc time, community empowered, screening can be done throughout the year continue screening by Animators and updates to KEH, sustainability through involving local community) work with Kalinga Eye Hospital to bring a doctor to these regions to treat these conditions.
- Camps with Corporate Houses
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- Child Eye Care
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- Combating childhood blindness has been identified by the World Bank as the most cost-effective of health interventions. It 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. Apart from the opportunity for education, employment and earning potentials are severely affected. Early onset blindness adversely affects psychomotor, social and emotional development also and being blind, children have 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 child friendly paediatric eye care centre, which was dedicated to the people of Odisha on 5th March 2009. Till December 2013, Kalinga Eye Hospital has able to reach more than 500,000 children in the state, restored sight of 6143 children through refractive corrected glasses and 599 children through Sight restoration surgeries.
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- Diabetes Eye Care
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- Diabetic retinopathy has been identified as one of the significant causes of blindness or vision impairment in India. There are 41 million diabetics in India at present and every diabetic is a potential candidate for loss of vision due to diabetic retinopathy. This number is poised to increase significantly. Thus it is an appropriate time now to concentrate on diabetic retinopathy. However, we have to recognize that the issues in managing vision impairment due to diabetic retinopathy are different from cataract. While cataract blindness is curable by a simple one time surgical intervention, diabetic retinopathy encompasses a multitude of problems and can be prevented if detected early and treated. It is an asymptomatic condition at the treatable stage but when a person presents for treatment with loss of vision, it often is too late for intervention. Diabetes mellitus currently affects more than 170 million persons worldwide, and this scale is estimated to touch 366 million by 2030. The eye is the most commonly affected organ by diabetes leading to Diabetic Retinopathy (DR). More than 75% of patients who have diabetes mellitus for more than 20 years will have some form of diabetic retinopathy. (Report of WHO consultation in Geneva, Switzerland, 9-11 November 2005).
- So Kalinga Eye Hospital, Dhenkanal has partnered with the World Diabetes Foundation, Denmark to establish the diabetic retinopathy services strengthened by Awareness and Service Delivery activities and to develop a sustainable model and sharing of the experience gained through publications on the strategies adopted towards awareness creation and service delivery activities. The project started on 1stMay 2009 and continued till 30th June 2012 and within this project period, approximately 515,200 people are educated on Diabetes and Diabetes related eye diseases. A total of 96 people (51 GPs, 19 Ophths, 13 Medical Specialists, 13 Medical PG Students) received training through CME.109 screening camps were conducted.1590 Community Workers were trained in support of the local District administration.67,835 people were screened for Diabetes.12,528 people were identified with diabetes, counselled and referred for treatment and 1002 patients have undergone the laser treatment at no cost under this service project.
- Involving Community Health Activities.
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- Empowering the local communities
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- The quote from Dr.G.Venkataswamy that eye care services do not operate in a vacuum. Rather, it 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, a community 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 the community and refer them to the nearest ophthalmic center at the earliest possible time to preserve his/her vision.
- International Volunteers
- Eye Screening camps for Drivers
- Child Eye Screening Program
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- Cornea Collection
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- Eye donation is an act of donating one’s eyes after his/her death. Only corneal blinds can be benefitted through this process, not other Blinds. It is an act of charity, purely for the benefit of the society and is totally voluntary. It is done after death. The eye donation of the deceased can be authorized by the next of kith & kin even if the deceased did not pledge to donate his / her eyes before death. The eyes, which are received through such magnanimous gestures, are of great benefit to the society. The front, clear and transparent tissue of the eye called as cornea can be used to restore vision to corneal blind person. The cornea can get damaged through accidents. Children, while playing with sharp objects (e.g. bows and arrows ,pen, pencil, etc.) can accidentally damage their cornea. Corneal blindness can also happen to elders. Some of the industrial causes are chemical bums, flying debris or road accidents. The cornea can get damaged due to infections and malnutrition as well. Removing the damaged cornea and replacing it with a healthy cornea by surgery can cure corneal blindness. Till date the treatment of the corneally blind people is corneal grafting. Artificial corneas have not yet been developed and hence the only source for cornea is from our fellow human beings.The other portions of the eye are also used for research and training purposes to develop cures for some of the common eye diseases.
- Kalinga Eye Hospital has joined hand with the NGO named Drishti Daan to introduce the cornea collection activities in Dhenkanal and has collected the first pair of cornea on 18th January 2011 and Shri Rajendra Mallik has pledged the corneas of his 21 year old son, the late Manoranjan Mohanty.
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- Vision Center Model
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- Many of the existing strategies focus primarily on cataract as a cause of blindness and are lackingin a comprehensive approach in the rural community. The existing outreach approaches are not serving the community on a permanent basis. It isreported that 10% of the people who need eye care access these temporary eye care services. Populations in rural areas and urban slums do not have access to affordable basic eye care services. Avoidable blindness and visual impairment can only be tackled by comprehensive eye care services. 80% of blindness and severe visual impairment is avoidable (preventable or curable). Incurably blind need rehabilitation services of which they are not aware. 80% of eye problems can be either diagnosed and treated, or diagnosed and referred by adequately trained personnel at primary level. The remaining 10 to 20% of the patients may require cataract surgery or any other specialty services in a secondary or tertiary care centre. 60-70% of blindness is due to cataract and 20% due to uncorrected refractive errors. So Kalinga Eye Has come up with the idea of fixed community eye screening center a.k.a Vision Center. Existence of primary eye care centers (vision centers) can serve the community in a cost effective manner. So three vision centres were introduced in three strategic locations of the state and is rendering services to more than 300,000 population of those zones.
- Reaching the unreached areas of the state
The centre for Community Ophthalmology
- Driven by a mission to contribute to the prevention and control of global blindness, the institute trains health-related and managerial personnel in the development and implementation of efficient and sustainable eye care programmes. It accomplishes this objective through the broad environment of Kalinga Eye Hospital. His excellency Governor of Mizzoram, Shri M. M Lakhera has inaugurated the Center of Community Ophthalmology at Kalinga Eye Hospital on dated 11th May 2010.
- The centre for Community Ophthalmology
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- Driven by a mission to contribute to the prevention and control of global blindness, the institute trains health-related and managerial personnel in the development and implementation of efficient and sustainable eye care programmes. It accomplishes this objective through the broad environment of Kalinga Eye Hospital. His excellency Governor of Mizzoram, Shri M. M Lakhera has inaugurated the Center of Community Ophthalmology at Kalinga Eye Hospital on dated 11th May 2010.