Date:24/02/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/02/24/stories/2008022450550200.htm --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kerala - Kochi Towards better eye care Staff Reporter KOCHI: Poverty, lack of education and environmental factors take their toll on developing countries and manifest in the form of diseases, including those affecting the eyes. Though India has made progress in medicare, much remains to be done, especially in preventing blindness and providing proper care for eyes. Operation Eyesight Universal, an international non-government organisation based in Canada, is extending help to various hospitals and agencies involved in eye care programmes. Little Flower Hospital, Angamaly, is one of the hospitals selected for aid by the organisation. $2 million aid The hospital will get $2 million aid from Operation Eyesight Universal, according to Pat Ferguson, president and chief executive of the organisation. The funds will be utilised for the construction of a new block for eye care and to upgrade the existing infrastructure at the hospital. The new hospital block will have 150,000 sq.ft. and it will be completed in two years. About nine million people in India were visually impaired. Many cases of blindness can be prevented or treated. Unemployment rates among the blind had been estimated at 90 per cent and closer to 100 per cent in rural areas. Preventable About 75 per cent of blindness in the developing world can be prevented with access to treatment, eye health awareness, good sanitation, hygiene and nutrition, according to Lalitha Raghuram, Country Director - India, Operation Eyesight Universal. She said the organisation had been working in India since 1963, with its headquarters in Hyderabad. The organisation had been supporting NGOs that were active in urban slums of Mumbai and several other cities. To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
