Page 72 - The Indian Optician Digital Edition July-August 2021

OPTICIANS:

THE IMPORTANT PILLAR OF BASIC

EYE CARE DELIVERY IN INDIA

ccording to the World Health
Organization (WHO), globally, at
Aleast 2.2 billion people have a near or
distance vision impairment. In at least 1 billion
of these cases, vision impairment could have
been prevented or has yet to be addressed.
The leading causes of vision impairment and
blindness are uncorrected refractive errors
and cataracts. As the WHO states, a simple
eye test and a pair of spectacles can save a
person from turning blind.

Opticians or optical shops are the
first point of contact, providing basic
eye care. They also provide referrals for
further treatment, when so required, to
ophthalmologists, the medical practitioners
mainly for secondary and tertiary care.
India has some excellent facilities for
eye care but even basic facilities are not
available in many rural and remote areas.
Its population is over 1.39 billion, the second
largest in the world, the majority in rural
areas, many economically deprived, and a
large number of blind and visually impaired
people. As many governments and private

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