When everything fails to restore sight, the blind will have to live with visual impairment. Not having sight could be a big handicap to live with. Visually impaired persons often remain socially isolated and sequestered in their homes. Fortunately, it is not the end of life.

L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) has proved this by taking up the task of providing rehabilitation to over one lakh such people. “Traditionally rehabilitation services are provided by educational institutions or non-governmental organisations. But these services should be part of eye hospitals where patients with low vision or blindness seek care,” said Dr Gullapalli N. Rao, founder Chairman of LVPEI.

Dr Rao regretted that such services were almost non-existent in developing countries such as India.

Besides providing high-end eyecare services, the institute has started providing rehabilitation to the blind ever since it started its operations 25 years ago.

“When conventional treatments - such as medical or surgical - fail to prevent or restore vision loss, patients often experience visual impairment. Visual impairment is an umbrella term that includes low vision and blindness,” he said here in a statement on Monday.

Visual impairment could have immediate and long-term consequences in children and adults, such as lost educational and employment opportunities, lost economic gain for individuals, families and societies, and impaired quality of life.

About 90 per cent of the world's visually impaired live in resource-poor countries such as India. There are about 10 million people with low vision and 30-40 million blind across all age groups in the country. Of these, approximately 0.25 million blind are children under 16 years of age and another 1 million children have low vision, Dr Rao said.

>kurmanath@thehindu.co.in

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