The Scenario of Childhood Blindness and its Remedy in Nepal

The Scenario of Childhood Blindness .....

Abstract

Abstract

Childhood blindness represents one of the most common disabling and handicapping conditions in children. It is estimated that there are approximately 1.4 million blind children worldwide and two -thirds of who live in the developing countries like Nepal. In Nepal more than 80% of the causes of childhood blindness were potentially preventable and it was more prevalent in Terai region. The main causes of blindness were diseases related to cornea, retina, lens optic nerve, refractive errors, amblyopia and hereditary.  The Study revealed that with three out of four blind children visually impaired at birth or within one year of birth. The most of the cases of unilateral childhood blindness were due to corneal causes. To decrease the burden of blindness, awareness program about various ocular diseases, nutritional blindness, ocular trauma, refractive errors, strabismus and amblyopia should be provided to the community health workers and parents of children. School screening and free eye camps should be conducted from the effort of governmental and non governmental institution to bring the motivation for regular eye check up and follow up when advised. Eye services should be reachable to rural areas and be feasible to people having poor socio economic condition. Eye health education should focus on proper nutrition of children and harmful effects of traditional eye medicines. Moreover the strong governmental and institutional support is required for capacity building, early detection, provision of services and counseling of the affected individuals and their parents.