Introduction 

Low vision is a condition of irreversible loss of vision even after the best possible medical intervention. This impedes a person’s ability to perform tasks of daily living. This is considered a major public health problem by the World Health Organisation (WHO, 2007). 

Through comprehensive low vision evaluation, management, assistive aids and training, residual vision of a low vision patient can be enhanced and utilized effectively for daily living tasks.  

Need for awareness: 

According to the global estimates of Visual Impairment issued by WHO in 2010; there are 285 million people who have visual impairment. Out of the 285 million people, 246 million people have low vision and 39 million are blind. Unfortunately, accessibility to low vision care globally is only 5 % of people (WHO, 2007). Low vision children have difficulty to cope up with regular education. The global burden is significant due to visual impairment. Lack of awareness among eye care practitionners is one of the significant barriers for the uptake of low vision services in eye care. (Sarika et al., 2019) 

Vision-Aid’s role: 

Vision-Aid through collaborations with many pre-eminent tertiary eye care hospitals and community centres has established resource centres pan- India to seamlessly provide low vision care. The resource centres function with a goal to provide comprehensive, high quality and equitable care. In 2022, Vision-Aid directly served over 18,000 visually impaired across India through its programs

Vision-Aid Programs

Vision-Aid programs are focused on providing a holistic, multidisciplinary approach of low vision care and management through the programs listed below.   

• Low vision screening  
• Comprehensive low vision evaluation 
• Assistive devices / aids  
• Functional vision / Early intervention of children 
• Counselling & referrals 
• Training activities 

Training 

Training activities are aimed at enabling, educating and empowering the visually impaired to live with independence and dignity 

Training activities at Vision-Aid include

• Life skills training for activities of daily living
• Orientation and mobility training 
• Computer training 
• Mobile technologies training 
• Visual skills training 
• Braille Training  
• Spoken English training
• Several Integrated/ advanced training programs for employment including Computer Programming, Digital Accessibility Testing, Advanced Excel  Corporate Skills, Soft Skills and other skills programs leading to jobs

Program metrics for the past year 2022 

In 2022, 18,000+ visually impaired were served across 28 locations in India, and below are some of the key metrics

Advocacy 

Vision-Aid also supports advocating our multidisciplinary approach by outreach and awareness activities through conferences and events, improving professional training and development, research and development and publication of papers in national seminars and conferences. 

Looking ahead

Vision-Aid believes that in addition to developing its multidisciplinary approach, the role of innovative technology based solutions and programs will play a key role.  Whether it is our Smart phone program, our AI-powered Smart Vision Glasses, portable digital magnifiers, technical training programs or innovative employment focused programs like our Digital Accessibility Testing and Training Center, which is employing visually impaired by winning global contracts for Accessibility Testing, Technology will have a key role to play in the coming year(s) in our mission of enabling, educating and empowering the visually impaired to live with independence and dignity!

References

Sarika, G., Venugopal, D., Sailaja, M. V. S., Evangeline, S., & Krishna Kumar, R. (2019). Barriers and enablers to low vision care services in a tertiary eye care hospital: A  mixed method study. Indian Journal of Ophthalmology, 67(4), 536–540. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijo.IJO_1215_18

WHO. (2007). The global initiative for the elimination of avoidable blindness ACTION PLAN 2006–2011. In WHO Press. https://doi.org/10.1142/9781848166271_0024

Happy Low Vision Awareness Month to all!