The paper was presented at the 10th International Conference - COMSNETS 2018 by Dr. Sharanya Rajan on 7th January 2018.

1. Prevention of Avoidable Blindness
and Improving Eye Healthcare
System in India
Dr. Sharanya Rajan
Nayonika Eye Care Charitable Trust (NECT)
Bangalore, India
NetHealth Workshop, COMSNETS 2018
Bangalore, India

2. Other Contributors
• Dr. PL Nataraj- Director of Health and Family Welfare Services,
Government of Karnataka
• Mr. Prashant SB- Chairman of Nayonika Eye Care Charitable
Trust (NECT)
• Dr. Sureka Prashanth- Ophthalmologist at Nayonika Eye Care
Charitable Trust (NECT)
• Dr. Mithileysh Satiyanarayanan- Research Consultant

3. Introduction
• Eye diseases causing impaired vision and blindness are one of
the chief public health problems globally [1].
• W.H.O has estimated 253 million visually impaired individuals
worldwide. Among these, 36 million people are completely
blind [2].
• The main cause for vision impairment globally is uncorrected
refractive error (43%) and unoperated cataract (33%) [3].
• A significant majority of the world population loose their
complete vision due to cataract (51%).

4. Introduction (continued)
• A great majority (around 90%) of the visually impaired
population live in Asia and Africa [2].
• Among the Asian countries, India has the highest visually
impaired individuals and blind individuals at 54 million and 8
million respectively [5].
• The main reason for vision impairment/blindness in India is
Cataract (62.6%), refractive error (19.7%) and glaucoma
(5.8%) [2].
• Over 80% of all the visual impairment or blindness can be
treated or cured [2].

5. Motivation
• A major obstacle in reducing preventable blindness in India is
less utilization of eye care services mainly due to less
awareness.
• Other factors like low-literacy levels, low socio-economic
status, ageism and geographical barriers have inhibited the
utilization of primary eye care services.
• The solution to address these problems is to enhance public
awareness and better access to quality primary eye care
services at the grass-root level.
• To promote awareness and provide better access to primary
eye care services at the community level, an eye health care
model with the help of mobile health technology has been
proposed by our team “NECT” (Nayonika Eye Care Charitable
Trust).

6. 1)Proposed “Eye Healthcare Model” to improve the quality of eye
services in India.
2)Examined the role of eye care community development in the
prevention of avoidable blindness in India.
3)Explored the importance of using mobile health application for
screening eye disorders at primary level in India.
4)Explained Nayonika’s community development for an effective eye
health of individuals and prevention of avoidable blindness in India.
5)Conducted workshops to understand doctors’ and people’s
perspective/requirement for better eye care development in India.
6)Conducted Eye care projects and analysed the importance of
synergy with health pioneers, clinicians, and entrepreneurs to
understand and work on eye healthcare problems/challenges in
India.
Contributions

7. The Eye Care Model

8. Eye Healthcare Reforms

9. Our Community Development
Model

10. Technology:
Nayonika Vision Wall Mobile Application (Navwma)
• Navwma’s mission- To disseminate awareness regarding eye health and
services among the local communities in Karnataka in order to reduce the
incidence of avoidable blindness.
• It is a self-screening vision test project to create mass awareness through
smart technology .
• In the mobile application, there are many online eye tests with
instructions, which enables one to perform an eye exam for complete
vision screening and aid in detecting possible eye problems.
• The mobile-app also provides general eye information, eye charts to create
awareness to the society.

11. Nayonika Vision Wall Mobile Application (Navwma)
• The mobile application also aids the healthcare workers in conducting
surveys to assess the magnitude of eye problems in the community and
helps in referral of patients.
• The application will be launched shortly in February and will be available
on Google play in English and many Indian languages.

12. Advantages of Navwma
• Screening of eye disorders made simple.
• Improves coverage of screening in the community.
• Helps in educating individuals regarding eye ailments, thereby
promoting better awareness.
• Aids the field workers in collecting data during household
surveys , tracking and referring patients.
• User friendly and cost effective application.

13. Limitations
• Acceptability of the Navwma mobile application is yet to be
examined.
• Internet Accessibility Issues
• Implementation Challenges
• Challenges regarding the quality of the tests.
• Security Challenges

14. Conclusion
The goal of Navwma
• To reduce the incidence of “avoidable blindness”
• To build a successful and a strong healthcare innovation
engine in India by understanding the challenges/problems in
the community and to enhance awareness.