The Economics of Eye Care
Avoidable Blindness in India
How many Indians live with blindness or vision loss, why most of it is avoidable through cataract surgery or glasses, and the economic cost of poor vision.
Millions of Indians have vision loss.
Causes
- Cataract: clouding of the eye’s lens, a leading cause of blindness.
- Uncorrected refractive errors: needing glasses but not having them.
- Glaucoma, diabetic eye disease and others.
Avoidable
Most blindness and vision loss in India is avoidable through surgery or glasses.
Economic cost
- Lost work and income.
- Family members give up work to care.
- Children struggle at school.
National programme
India’s National Programme for Control of Blindness, launched in 1976, was one of the first of its kind.
The simple fix
A tailor who can't thread needles regains her livelihood with a cheap pair of reading glasses.
Thinking blindness is usually untreatable
Most is avoidable.
Key takeaways
- Millions have vision loss.
- Cataract and refractive errors are leading causes.
- Most is avoidable.
- Poor vision costs income and schooling.
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