E-Paper
Child blindness control programme falls flat
FIVE To seven per cent children aged 10-14 years in Allahabad are slowly heading towards total blindness. They have been painfully kept out of the global initiative of 'Vision 2020', under which 'Right to Sight' plan was drawn for the prevention and control of childhood blindness.
FIVE To seven per cent children aged 10-14 years in Allahabad are slowly heading towards total blindness. They have been painfully kept out of the global initiative of 'Vision 2020', under which 'Right to Sight' plan was drawn for the prevention and control of childhood blindness.
These startling facts have come to light from the report, released by the Director, National Programme and Joint Director (Eye Care) State Programme Officer, Swasthya Bhawan, Lucknow, for the year 2005-06.
Two years back, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had estimated that about five to seven per cent children between 10 and 14 years of age suffer from eye sight related problem, which affects their participation and learning at school.
These could be easily corrected by a pair of spectacles, but if ignored could lead to permanent blindness, the report stated.
Following the report, School Eye Screening Programme was launched in UP. It was decided to annually screen all children in the age group of 8 to 14 years, identify children with eye problems, train teachers to help students with sight problems, distribute spectacles specially to children from poor families in rural areas and refer children to ophthalmic assistants.
The annual target of free glass distribution (among children) for Allahabad district was kept at 3,646 for the year 2005-06. But with the distribution of only 1475 glasses, the district achieved only 40.54 per cent target.
What's more, it secured 62nd position among 70 districts of UP in the school eye screening and blindness control programme.
The other bad performer districts in UP were Mainpuri (only 49 glasses were distributed which was 4.17 per cent of the set target), Mathura (182 glasses were distributed, achieving only 11.92 per cent of target), Jyotibaphule Nagar (166 glasses distributed, achieving 15.01 per cent target), Ballia (311 glasses distributed leading to 15.31 per cent target), Faizabad (482 glasses distributed, attaining 31.29 per cent target), Deoria (727 glasses distributed, achieving 36.09 per cent target), Auraiyya (333 glasses distributed, achieving 38.27 per cent target) and Gautambudh Nagar (409 glasses distributed, attaining 46.54 per cent target).
Earlier talking to HT Allahabad Live, director, Regional Institute of Ophthalmology, Dr SP Singh, said that school screening programme was an essential part of blindness control programme. "The stress should be given on early detection of sight disorders in school children," he added.
