Dr BP Kashyap (in green) addresses mediapersons on Friday. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Ranchi, Oct. 19: Ophthalmologists B.P. Kashyap and Bharti Kashyap have called upon the state government to play a more proactive role in checking growing incidence of blindness, especially in rural areas, by focusing on treatment of diabetes, high cholesterol and hypertension.

Announcing a vitreo retinal conference to be held at Kashyap Memorial Eye Hospital in Ranchi tomorrow, the ophthalmologist couple underscored that campaigns sponsored by governmental agencies and NGOs tended to focus on “avoidable” or “preventable” blindness that commonly includes cataract, corneal and retinal problems.

“But what needs attention is that high diabetes, cholesterol and hypertension lead to permanent vision impairment, an ailment that is mostly seen in villagers,” B.P. Kashyap, head of Kashyap Memorial Eye Hospital, said on Friday.

His wife Bharti Kashyap agreed, adding that India was home to approximately 24 million visually challenged people, the largest in the world. If this trend goes unchecked, the number of the affected will increase to 31.6 million by 2020.

“Growing awareness, coupled with a boom in healthcare facilities and super-speciality hospitals in cities, have meant that the urban population can consult a doctor and undergo regular health check-ups at the slightest discomfiture. But in rural areas, where more than 70 per cent of population reside, healthcare facilities are few. People suffering from diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol hardly go for treatment, which ultimately take a toll on their eyesight,” Bharti said.

“As charting such lifestyle disorders across the rural belt cannot be done by a single doctor or even a group of doctors, the state needs to take initiatives on its own,” she said, adding that their hospital was ready to help.

Bharti pointed out that at the behest of Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh, eye camps were held under the banner of Kashyap Memorial Eye Bank and Kashyap Memorial Eye Hospital in Saranda in January and at Latehar in August.

Eminent ophthalmologists from India and abroad will take part in tomorrow’s conference. The next day, live vitreo retinal surgeries on patients suffering from retinal detachment, macular hole, vitreous haemorrhage will be performed.