Nearly 75 % of people in India over the age of 60 either have cataracts or have had cataract surgery. Impaired vision or blindness from cataracts can lead to complete financial and physical dependence, and in India’s rural Tansa Valley, not being able to work or be independent can be devastating to an individual or a family.
In the early 1990s, PRASAD Chikitsa hosted the first eye camps in India’s Tansa Valley, performing more than 2,000 surgeries, mainly for cataracts. The camps, named Netraprakash (Light of the Eye), were the largest of their kind in the world at that time. Doctors and volunteers worked from dawn through late evening to perform eye screenings and surgeries. The camps also provided diagnostic screenings and treatment for a range of eye problems. During the camps, more than 31,000 people were screened, 13,500 received new glasses, and tens of thousands of vitamin supplements were distributed.
Today, PRASAD Chikitsa operates a 25 bed inpatient ward and an outpatient clinic with modern eye equipment. Doctors at the clinic perform approximately 700 cataract surgeries each year.
PRASAD works with local leaders to organize eye screening camps like this one in Khanivali, which saw 425 people. These camps provide early diagnosis of eye problems, prescription glasses and patient referrals for eye surgery.
Harriette Cole
Trustee and Chair
The PRASAD Project
