An initiative towards community health by Allied Health Sciences department
“I came across this banner that Brainware University is conducting an eye camp. I
was facing problems with my eyes and needed a checkup so I walked in”, said one of
the patients who visited the Vision and Cataract Screening Camp; organized by the
Department of Allied Health Sciences in collaboration with Sankara Jyoti Eye
Institute on January 7, 2023. The camp was organised as a part of Students Week 2023.
Cataract screening camp: Significance and importance in a developing country
One of the major challenges in the developing world is blindness, especially cataract
related blindness. India, as one of the biggest developing countries, has a large
number of blind requiring sight-restoring cataract surgery. There is a backlog of over
22 million blind eyes (12 million blind people) in India, and 80.1% of these are blind
due to cataracts, as per a WHO/NPCB (National Programme for Control of Blindness)
survey.
Vision and cataract screening camp at BWU: Services offered
Sayani Pal Choudhury, Assistant Professor, Department of Allied Health Sciences and
Coordinator of the Cataract Screening Camp said, “We are offering various services
like cataract screening for underprivileged people. We are also providing spectacles at
a subsidised rate. In case anyone needs cataract surgery, we are also recommending
that which the patients will get at a subsidised rate from Sankara Jyoti Eye Institute.”
As per several media reports, financial barriers continue to be a major reason for not
taking up offered cataract surgery services in India. This initiative by Brainware
University is certainly going to be beneficial for the underprivileged people from the
neighbouring areas. “They are offering spectacles at a very low rate or else I would
not have been able to afford the spectacle”; said one of the patients.
Objective of Brainware University: Community healthcare
The community where we live is also a part of who we are! Community health is a
medical specialty that focuses on the physical and mental well-being of people in a
specific geographical area. Since its inception, Brainware University has focused on
community healthcare and organises frequent health camps for the welfare of the
neighbouring people.
