CB BureauWalking blindfolded along with visually-impaired
school children, celebrated painter Jatin Das led the SCEH-IVI ‘Walk in the
Dark’ at Daryaganj, Delhi, to spread awareness about eradicating
preventable blindness. The Walk was organised by Dr Shroff’s Charity Eye
Hospital (SCEH) in partnership with India Vision Institute (IVI).
India is home to 131 million visually impaired people;
and it has been estimated that over 80 per cent of global visual impairment is
preventable or treatable. Uncorrected refractive error is one of the major
causes of blindness worldwide. The Indian economy loses potential productivity
worth Rs 126,500 crore, or $23 billion, due to uncorrected refractive errors ”
an avoidable cause of blindness.
Over 400 people walked in
support of the cause, including several local dignitaries, students from optometry
and other schools and colleges, and staff of SCEH and IVI.
‘A 100-year-old leader in eye-care service, Dr
Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital stands tall among the quality eye-health
institutions of India. It is proud to partner IVI in the walk to highlight the
cause of combating blindness in India, most of which is “preventableâ€,’ said Arun
Arora, CEO, SCEH.
IVI CEO Vinod Daniel gave another perspective: ‘There
is a direct correlation between learning and vision and it is unfortunate that
crores of Indian school children can’t achieve their full potential because
they do not have access to a pair of glasses.’