Traditionally, hospitals have relied on outreach services and mobile clinics to reach rural and peri-urban communities. While these methods can be effective, they are often expensive and difficult to sustain.
Vision Centers provide a more sustainable and accessible solution for expanding eye care services while building long-term capacity within communities. A compelling example of their effectiveness in reaching vulnerable populations is the Village Vision Complex, developed by the LV Prasad Eye Institute.
LV Prasad Eye Institute’s (LVPEI) Village Vision Complex ensures timely intervention and precise diagnosis of congenital glaucoma to save vision.
In India, nearly 2% of adults are blind, and over 13% are visually impaired, with most living in rural areas. LVPEI’s Village Vision Complex (VVC) delivers quality eye care to these communities through a network of vision and secondary centres. Vision centres serve 50,000 people with free eye exams and affordable spectacles, referring complex cases via teleophthalmology. Secondary centres, serving up to 500,000 people, provide surgeries like cataract removal. This model addresses nearly 90% of common vision issues. Varun’s sight was saved thanks to Charan, a vision technician at the Nagarkurnool Vision Centre, 140 km from Hyderabad’s Quaternary Eye Institute.
Kommu Varun, three months old, came to our Nagarkurnool Vision Centre on November 13, 2022. His parents noticed a sudden change in the color of his left eye and immediately consulted with a general physician (GP) in their town, Nagarkurnool. The GP referred Varun to the LVPEI Nagarkurnool Vision Centre for ophthalmic consultation and treatment.
Charan, a vision technician, staffs the Nagarkurnool Vision Centre. He examined Varun and suspected congenital glaucoma. Charan shared the case history and pictures with the tele-command centre at Hyderabad for consultation. He also referred Varun to the Kuchakulla Ramachandra Reddy Eye Centre, at Thoodukurthy, a secondary centre to confirm the diagnosis and begin treatment.
Dr. Deepika Macha, the ophthalmologist at the secondary centre, examined Varun and diagnosed megalocornea in both eyes and congenital glaucoma in the left eye. Varun had to be referred to the Quaternary Eye Care Institute at the Kallam Anji Reddy campus, Hyderabad, on priority. Dr Muralidhar Ramappa and Dr Anil K Mandal at the Quaternary Eye Care Institute in Hyderabad examined Varun under anesthesia and diagnosed primary congenital glaucoma. Varun’s left eye was operated on in January 2023, followed by the right eye in April 2023.
Varun is now doing well, and his parents have promised to bring him for regular follow-ups. The network’s timely intervention and precise diagnosis saved Varun’s sight.
The L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) was established in 1987 with the vision to create excellent and equitable eye care systems that reach all those in need,” the L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI), a comprehensive eye health institute, is a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Prevention of Blindness. In pursuance of this vision, LVPEI clinicians and scientists work at the cutting edge of eye research. Through its five-tier ‘‘Eye Health Pyramid’ model, it has offered over 36.89 million services, with more than 50% entirely free of cost, irrespective of the complexity of care needed.
For further information, visit the Institute’s website, www.lvpei.org.