Vision for a Better Future
India Vision Institute (IVI) is an Indian non-profit nongovernmental organization (NGO) with the vision to augment the country’s Primary Eye Care Capacity. This IVI does by providing access to primary eye care for underprivileged and rural Indians and through advancing the optometry sector, awareness generation, capacity building, advocacy and leadership development.
The wealth of a nation is linked to the health of its people – the state of its health sector, allocation of resources to the health sector, as well as delivery of services, especially to the poor and deprived sections of society. Vision health and eye care is an important aspect of public health, and ensuring quality vision care ought to be an essential and integral element of a modern, holistic public health system.
Estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO) on visual impairment globally and the causes thereof show that as of 2010, there were 285 million visually impaired people, of which 39 million were blind. More than 86 percent of blindness is estimated to be among people above 50 years of age and above 80 percent of this blindness is avoidable.
Two-thirds of visually impaired people globally could be rid of impairments to their vision. WHO estimates that 80% of all causes of visual impairment are preventable or curable if determining causes and treatment were made priorities and control measures implemented consistently across the world, by providing refractive services and offering surgery to people in need.
As Helen Keller famously said, “The only thing worse than being blind is having sight and no vision.” IVI’s vision for vision care in India has the potential to be transformative and we are working towards contributing to improving quality of life and productivity for thousands of Indians.
Vision Screenings
Our activities span the length and breadth of India, including in 19 states of the country. For the prevention of avoidable blindness, we work through timely intervention in providing access to vision screenings and provision of free spectacles in disadvantaged communities and remote areas. We have been able to provide to a fairly wide range of people across the country access to vision care solutions that were out of reach due to factors such as lack of awareness, poverty, or a dearth of physical access to facilities. Our Eye See & I Learn and Eye See & I Work campaigns reach constituencies where services are lacking and most required – notably children and adults.
IVI has undertaken around 1,000 vision screening programs in and around Chennai and other states in Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Mizoram, New Delhi, Odisha, Pondicherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and West Bengal. Over 355,480 individuals from the underprivileged communities (including 284,011 children) have been screened and free spectacles distributed to 54,476 individuals (including 27,979 children).
Capacity Building
Optometry professionals are society’s frontline warriors against visual impairment and preventable blindness. They have the onerous task of ensuring that vision care services are delivered to the largest possible number of people without compromising on quality. To this end, IVI has contributed significantly to building capacity and ensuring that India’s optometry professionals are adequately skilled and equipped to be equal to every challenge they face.
We have conducted some 200 capacity-building workshops, 80 seminars, 53 research grants, 17 travel grants and 2 higher education scholarships benefitting around 7,000 optometry professionals, including practitioners, educators and students. We organize online advocacy, talks, panel discussions, education, skill enhancement and leadership development programs. Our collaboration with over 45 institutes for programs has covered 20 states and three union territories.
Advocacy
As an organization committed to providing thought leadership to the eye care sector, IVI takes on the role of advocacy through, among other activities, a monthly online panel discussion series in collaboration with VisionPlus magazine and a lecture series “IVI Talks” by leaders who share their thoughts, experiences, and learnings with the broader eye care professional community.
Recognizing the importance of advocacy in the vision care space to spread awareness, build partnerships and enhance service delivery, IVI has been playing a prominent role in organizing major conferences on eye health. We hosted the Second World Congress of Optometry (WCO), September 11-13, 2017 in Hyderabad, focusing global attention on the problems of the developing nations. WCO, which drew some 1,250 eyecare professionals from across the globe celebrated strides made by India in Optometry. Last year, 2-4 October 2020, we organized an international conference ‘Eye Health in a Changing World,’ the first ever such virtual event. The three-day event evoked participation by a mix of some 1,500 registered delegates and audience, including representatives from business and industry, students, educators, practitioners and other eye health professionals. The conference provided participants with an excellent opportunity to network with leaders in the eye care industry, strengthen the knowledge base, and to learn about the latest trends and advancements in the market. This conference will be an annual activity and the second Annual International conference Eye Health in a Changing World will be held in September this year. Also, this year on April 23, we will host Resmeet-21, a vision research symposium in honour of the pioneer visionary scientist, researcher and optometrist, late Professor Brien Holden. Resmeet-21 will bring together top researchers and experts in the eye health sector from around the world, including several who have worked closely with Professor Holden.
IVI is on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Visit www.indiavisioninstitute.org for more information.
