“Cataract Blindness Free Gujarat” campaign covers 3.30 lakh eyes in just 4 months

Gandhinagar: To make the public of Gujarat blindness free, the government has started a big campaign called “Cataract Blindness Free Gujarat”.

As per the information by the health department, there have been 3.30 lakh cost free cataract operations done in Gujarat in the short span of four months. The work of giving new eyesight to the needy has been done successfully. It means there have been 115 cost free operations done every hour in the different hospitals of the state. The needy have been given new eye sight and they have been made blindness free as well.

The cost-free surgery is available in the 22 district hospitals, 36 sub-districts hospitals, 22 medical colleges, 1 R.I.O. and at 128 registered voluntary health organizations of Gujarat.

Under this campaign, cataract surgery is performed on the patient using Phaco Imulsification method and more than 70,000 worth of hydrophobic intraocular lenses are placed free of cost to the patients. It should be mentioned here that the National Program for Control of Blindness and visual Impairment has been implemented in the State of Gujarat since the year 1978.

The main goal of which is to reduce the rate of blindness to 0.25% by the year 2025. According to a survey conducted by the state government in 2014, the rate of blindness was 0.7%. According to the survey conducted by the central government in 2018-19, this rate has decreased to 0.36%. The incidence of blindness due to cataract is reported to be 36%. Other causes include refractive errors, glaucoma, strabismus, retinal diseases, and diabetic retinopathy.

Chief Minister Bhupendrabhai had started the Cataract Blindness Free Gujarat campaign in the month of February in the entire state under the Cataract Blindness and Vision Prevention Program.

A total of 3,30,000 cataract operations have been performed during the four months under the “Cataract Blindness Free Gujarat” campaign.
Out of which about 27000 people who are blind in both eyes have been operated.

The state of Gujarat has been the leader in the country by performing an average of 7 lakh cataract operations every year in the last 10 years, achieving a rate of more than 10000 cataract operations per 10 lakh populations. The remarkable thing is that, the effects of cataracts usually occur after the age of 50, leading to dizziness. Cataracts can be treated by placing the eyeball in a simple operation and the vision can be fully restored.

DeshGujarat