Models for Primary Eye Care Services in India

Blindness and visual impairment continues to be a major public health problem in India. Availability and easy access to primary eye care services is essential for elimination of avoidable blindness. ‘Vision 2020: The Right to Sight - India’ envisaged the need for establishing primary eye care units named vision centers for every 50,000 population in the country by the year 2020. The government of India has given priority to develop vision centers at the level of community health centers and primary health centers under the ‘National Program for Control of Blindness’. NGOs and the private sector have also initiated some models for primary eye care services. In the current situation, an integrated health care system with primary eye care promoted by government of India is apparently the best answer. This model is both cost effective and practical for the prevention and control of blindness among the underprivileged population. Other models functioning with the newer technology of tele-ophthalmology or mobile clinics also add to the positive outcome in providing primary eye care services. This review highlights the strengths and weaknesses of various models presently functioning in the country with the idea of providing useful inputs for eye care providers and enabling them to identify and adopt an appropriate model for primary eye care services.