Blindness Prevention Program

History

Blindness prevention is the primary concern of DCI’s founder, Dr. Ehsan Hoque. Dr. Hoque was born in Bangladesh with congenital cataracts, and was at risk of becoming blind as a child. His family was fortunate enough to be able to provide him with the necessary treatment. With his eyesight intact, Dr. Hoque began looking toward those who were less fortunate, and wondered why so many children had to become blind from preventable causes and the lack of simple treatment. Feeling like he had been given a priceless gift, Dr. Hoque began to educate people in Bangladesh about eye care, teaching mothers about the importance of eating green vegetables when pregnant. He wanted to do more and took the leadership to create a multinational platform for blindness prevention.

While working at Yale University, he met renowned ophthalmologist Brian DeBroff, who discovered a new surgery technique for treating childhood cataracts, and who shared his concern for preventing blindness among underprivileged children. Together, the two founded DCI and the Blindness Prevention Program, which has grown into a life-changing initiative. With the support of donors and local partners, DCI now provides access to vision screening, treatment such as eyeglasses, cataract surgery, and rehabilitation, and vision health education to underprivileged children and adults in Bangladesh, India and Nepal.

DCI launched its Blindness Prevention Program in 2007, with the objective of preventing and treating vision loss among underprivileged children and their families. DCI sponsors blindness prevention efforts in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal, and periodically provides eye care to uninsured people in the United States. You can click the slideshow below to learn more about the program.

Program Goals

Present Activities

Arrange eye screening camps in remote rural areas and urban slums
Provide treatment, especially for refractive error and cataract surgery
Provide vision health education to children and parents, especially mothers
Circulate information about eye health, treatment and rehabilitation through resource centers
Observe International Day of the Blind in all project areas, involving local youth, to generate mass awareness of the importance of eye care

Our Impact

5,200 disadvantaged children and 7,752 adults in Bangladesh have received free eye care (eye screenings & follow-up)
978 patients in Bangladesh have received cataract surgeries
325 received cataract surgeries in India
100 primary ophthalmologists trained in pediatric cataract surgery
Seeds, plants, and fertilizer have been distributed to 800 families for homestead gardens as a source of vitamins
Free eyecare camp arranged for uninsured Americans in Waterbury, CT

The Need

285 million people are visually impaired worldwide; 19 million are children under 15
The three main causes of visual impairment in children is uncorrected refractive error (63%), cataracts (23%), and glaucoma (2%)
80% of visual impairment in children is preventable or treatable. Delayed intervention for refractive error and low vision leads to blindness
There are nearly 45 million blind people worldwide
500,000 children become blind every year
50% of children who become blind die within one year
Blindness in children damages psychomotor, social, & emotional development and inhibits opportunities for education, employment, & community participation. So the impact is much severe when the number of ‘number of blind years” is taken into account
Lack of accessibility to vision care, cost, and lack of knowledge are the major contributing factors to visual impairment

Visual Impairment in Bangladesh

750,000 adults and 40,000 children are blind in Bangladesh
27,250 adults and 9,925 children per million have refractive error
550,000 are blind from cataracts
75% of those could either by prevented or cured by early detection and treatment
80% of those affected live in rural areas
There are only 820 ophthalmologists and 268 mid-level eye care personnel providing eye care services and 90% of all doctors and healthcare providers are urban based
Approximately 1,200 patients per million become blind due to cataracts each year
To overcome the backlog, 2,200 patients per million need to be operated on per year

Visual Impairment in India

There are an estimated 2 million blind children in India, most with easily treatable cataracts or refractive errors
There are 11,000 ophthalmologists in the region, mostly in urban areas
Only 35% of eye care interventions with children are conducted in the public, government sector
There is only 1 ophthalmologist per 250,000 rural people in India
62.6% of blindness in Indian children is due to cataracts
India has 23.5% of the world’s blind children

Visual Impairment in Nepal

There are about 4,300 blind children in Nepal
23% of blind children do not receive surgery because their families can’t afford it
15% of blind children and their families are unaware of treatment
The majority of eyecare is provided by non-government organizations
64% of cataract surgeries are on foreign patients, not those living in poverty in Nepal