Cataract continues to be prime cause of blindness

KANPUR: Eight persons out of every 1,000 in the state are blind. It was revealed in the national survey on blindness conducted in 2006-07 to recognise the main causes responsible for visual impairment and blindness.
According to the survey, prevalence of blindness in general population is 1.0 per cent. Cataract continues to be the main cause of blindness with a share of 62.6 per cent, uncorrected refractive error responsible for 20 per cent, glaucoma six per cent, surgical complication and corneal opacity or corneal injuries 1 per cent each and other causes for blindness contribute to 10 per cent.
"The prevalence of blindness in the state is 0.8 per cent, out of which cataract contributes to 0.6 per cent while the remaining 0.2 per cent comprise of other factors related to visual impairment," said former nodal officer, National Programme for Control of Blindness (NPCB), Harish Chandra."Around 30 per cent of the blind lose their eyesight before they reach the age of 20, and many even before the age of five. The chief causes of blindness in children are refractive error, trachoma, conjunctivitis and malnutrition (vitamin A deficiency). In older age group, cataract, glaucoma and diabetes are the main causes," he added.
Taking Kanpur district into consideration, a large number of population has been widely affected by cataract. Nearly 142,968 cataract cases were detected in the year 2007-08, 1,51,067 in 2008-09 and 1,33,735 in 2009-2010. Ironically, only a minor percentage was covered by cataract surgeries. According to the figures provided by the district health authorities, in 2007-08, only 21,445 had undergone intra-ocular lens implantation, 21,971 in 2008-09 and 29,527 in 2009-10.
Attributing reasons for visual impairment, doctors say incidence of blindness and socio-economic status are proportional to each other. "Low income groups, or those living in rural areas, are more prone to visual impairment and a majority of them lose eyesight due to increased longevity of the eye infection," said RC Gupta, head of department, ophthalmology, Ganesh Shankar Vidyrathi Memorial (GSVM) Medical College.
"Anther important reason for an increase in blindness cases has been uncontrolled number of diabetic patients who are vulnerable to vision loss. It is important for a diabetic to keep a proper check on his/her diet, as the high level of sugar can damage the retina and eventually lead to permanent blindness," he said.
Corneal blindness has also been a major concern for the health department as it can only be treated by corneal transplantation. Thus, to create awareness among masses to donate eyes, eye donation fortnight is held each year from August 25 to September 8.
The ophthalmology department has recently started corneal transplantation surgeries after receiving the membership and registration of the Eye Bank Association of India. Corneal transplantation, also known as corneal grafting or keratoplasty, is a surgical procedure to replace diseased or infected cornea with healthy donated cornea.
Shalini Mohan, an ophthalmic expert who successfully conducted four corneal transplantation surgeries in four months, said: "There are more than 1.2 million corneal blind people, whose eyesight can be restored by this surgery. However, it is an irony that the masses are still unaware of the fact that eye donation can light up other lives. As per the figures, there has been a requirement for around 75,000 to 1,00,000 corneas each year to eradicate blindness. Though, eye donation camps are organised, local participation has been very low," she added.