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Cataract is the leading cause of Blindness
Why is it in the news?
- According to the National Blindness and Visual Impairment Survey India 2015-19, Cataract is the leading cause of blindness in people above 50 years.
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Findings of the Survey:
- Cataract is reason behind 66.2% blindness cases, 80.7% severe visual impairment cases and 70.2% moderate visual impairment cases in the age group of above 50 years.
- Literacy Gap: Blindness is more pronounced among illiterate (3.23%) than literates(0.43%).
- Rural-Urban Gap: Blindness is more prevalent in the rural population (2.14%) than urban (1.80%).
- Avoidable/Treatable: Around 93% of blindness cases and 96.2% of visual impairment cases in this age group were avoidable. Of all the avoidable causes, more than half were treatable.
Causes:
- Cost was the biggest barrier in accessing a cataract surgery. It was the reason for 22.1 per cent blindness cases.
- Lack of awareness was behind 18.4 per cent cases, who did not feel any need of the surgery.