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There are currently no eye care facilities in the slums to address the high levels of avoidable blindness.

About the project

Women and children are particularly vulnerable to avoidable blindness but there is hope as accessible eye care is on its way to the communities in Kolkata’s slums.

Our partners Sightsavers International will work in the slums of Kolkata to create awareness of eye health and services available.

The slums of Kolkata have a population of 1.49 million. About 75% of people live below the poverty line, earning less than US$1 a day. Poverty, malnutrition and poor health are all known contributors to high levels of avoidable blindness.

Women account for two- thirds of avoidable blindness which can seriously impact on their ability to look after their children, who are also at risk of developing health problems. The project will focus primarily on women and children in order to respond to these trends and protect the most vulnerable.

Importance of education

A vast number of people living in slums do not realise that most eye conditions can be prevented or treated.

Even if people do realise that they have an eye problem, they often do not seek the help to prevent permanent damage as services are often far away or difficult to access.

To combat this, the project will not only develop eye care services for the population but will also seek to increase their use through outreach and education programmes. The goal of the project is to "eradicate avoidable blindness in the urban slums of West Bengal".

By 2014 we aim to have:

• Established 7 vision centres in targeted urban areas
• Screened 170,000 adults for refracted error
• Conducted 20,170 cataract operations
• Dispensed 137,000 spectacles and 137,000 optical devices
• Screened 500,000 people through outreach camps
• Screened 20,000 school children over five years

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