Primary Eyecare services 2018-2019

Developing Sustainable Primary Eyecare services in Rishikesh, Uttrakhand 2018-19 Ongoing Project

Supported by XOVA, Novartis Pharma

Parmath Niketan Ashram is located on banks of the Ganges River and was established in the year 1942 and since then been serving the mankind in not only spiritual but also in its educational and health care needs. The Swami Shukdevanand Charitable Hospital is located on the premises of the ashram and serves for primary health care needs as well as dental, ophthalmic and physiotherapy requirement. The Ophthalmic department of the hospital has been providing cataract services in form of camps with help of doctors from Mumbai and Australia for several years. The goal of this primary eye care project is to provide permanent primary eye care services on a continual basis and establish a daily out patient service for eye care as a sustainable model. This project aims to reach out services to underprivileged and underserved population of this district.

Implementation of the project

Among the major reasons for barriers to availing eye care services besides economic is lack of awareness. The first goal was to raise awareness for need for eye care among the people of Rishikesh and then provide affordable eye care services as a sustainable model. To increase awareness it was planned to perform door to door vision screening of people of Rishikesh to achieve this, the 80 community health workers were trained for a period of two days. At the base hospital, a daily outpatient service has been now established and to compliment the ophthalmic OPD, an optical store that will be established provide low cost spectacles such that it will be a sustainable service. This will increase the daily flow of eye care.