Sightsavers (India)
Sightsavers works in over 30 developing countries in Africa and Asia to prevent avoidable blindness and promote the rights of people with disabilities. Since its creation in 1950, Sightsavers have provided over 1.2 billion treatments for blinding tropical diseases, carried out over 10.6 million sight-saving operations (including 7.7 million cataract surgeries), and dispensed glasses to over 4.5 million people.
The Rural Eye Health Programme in India aims to increase the uptake of eye health services by the rural poor, women (whose treatment is often not prioritised), and other marginalised groups, including people with disabilities and people from lower castes and tribes.
This project aims to deliver quality eye health services at primary and secondary levels by integrating eye health into existing primary healthcare plans and creating primary eye care facilities.
In 2020/2021, with the support of the Eurofins Foundation, Sightsavers reached 62,874 people with eye screenings. They also provided 4,100 people with sight-saving cataract surgery between January and September 2021, even during COVID-19 lockdowns.
Vision centres in the districts provided a range of eye care services, including eye examinations, refraction (eye tests for glasses), dispensing of affordable eyeglasses, detecting potentially blinding diseases, and referring patients with more complex eye conditions to hospitals for treatment.
The project conducted outreach camps in the first few months until lockdown restrictions were put in place. The project team then adopted door-to-door visits to vision screen community members.
The project has successfully advocated for integrating eye care into broader health programmes, leading to more people having access to eye health information and services. Later in 2021, Sightsavers met with other partners and National Program for the Control of Blindness representatives to discuss a strategy to address and clear the backlog of cataract cases in the state.
In addition, Sightsavers India has leveraged significant resources from state governments across India, supervised the scale-up and implementation of its programmes by state governments, and supported the government in initiating eye health service provision.
In 2021/2022, the Eurofins Foundation continued to support this programme, enabling Sightsavers to reach 82,534 individuals with eye screenings and provided 3,055 people with sight-saving cataract surgery, between January and September 2022.The project has made significant progress in the Uttar Pradesh districts of Lakhimpur Kheri and Hardoi, towards delivering high-quality, affordable, and accessible eye care services. More individuals now have access to eye health information and services because of the project's successful advocacy for the inclusion of eye care in larger health programmes. As a result of strategy discussions between Sightsavers, local partners and the State project officer for the National Program for the Control of Blindness, the government started delivering an initiative called ‘Netra jyoti abhiyan’, to clear the backlog of cataract cases in the state.
In 2022/2023, the Eurofins Foundation renews its support to Sightsavers for this project.
This project contributes to the following United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal
