Kolkata: West Bengal alone accounts for one million visually handicapped persons and ironically nearly 80 percent of these cases are either avoidable or curable, according to a study.
''West Bengal alone accounts for one million visually
handicapped persons and nearly 80 per cent of these cases
of blindness are either avoidable or curable,'' Director of
Susrut Eye foundation and Research centre, a premier eye care
treatment and allied institute in Eastern region, Shib Shankar
Bagchi, said quoting a study today.
The Susrut Centre and the National Association for the
Blind (NAB), an NGO working for visually challenged in India,
today formally launched ''Together We can'' eye care
initiative aimed at providing eye care treatment to the
economically weaker visually handicapped.
The NAB state secretary Kanchan Gaba said that NAB,
working since 1952 for economically weak visually challenged
people, would provide training and rehabilitation for the
blind, while IT company Cognizant Technology Solutions would
be roped in for funds and other forms of support.
As part of the initiative, a mobile eye clinic unit
van will reach out to the economically weak visually
handicapped persons who lack access to proper eye care
treatment.
PTI
First Published: Friday, January 27, 2012, 19:36