In addition to being a full-time mom, Shakuntala also works as an Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) with the Government of India, providing healthcare and referrals for others in her community of Gadhara Village.  

For the past eight years, she has provided advice to women regarding their pregnancies, referring several women each month to local health facilities. She has also supported home-based newborn care and vaccinations for children in her community.  

Thanks to primary eye care training offered by Operation Eyesight in August 2022, Shakuntala can also identify common eye conditions and provide referral for those experiencing eye health issues. 

“I got to learn a lot about eye health care,” she explains. “The training program has built my skills in measuring the vision of a person. Now I screen the eyesight of my community members with these simple techniques and refer them to Health and Wellness Centres.” 

Shankuntala performs basic vision tests and identifies symptoms of conditions like cataracts, refractive error and pterygium – a growth on the eye’s conjunctiva. Armed with the knowledge and skills she gained both during her ASHA training and additional eye care training, she is able to address many of the determinants of health, including some of the root causes of avoidable blindness such as vitamin A deficiency and poor hygiene.   

One of the key recommendations of the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) 2019 World Report on Vision is to implement Integrated People-centered Eye Care (IPEC), as it will play a critical role in addressing the global eye health crisis. ‘Integrated’ eye care is care that is part of the local health system. This often requires partnership with local hospitals and often means utilizing local health resources, personnel and infrastructure. ‘People-centred’ means focusing on the needs, preferences and values of individuals and communities. 

IPEC has been a core component of Operation Eyesight’s approach for decades, because we focus on the unique needs of individuals and communities, as well as partner with local governments and health programs. In India, this includes opening local vision centres or vision points and recruiting local health workers who are predominantly women to conduct door-to-door screenings.  

“Trainings give health care staff in a community the skills and knowledge they need to make eye health care a standard part of the care they provide. Ultimately, this helps make eye care both accessible and sustainable for a community long-term,” explains Dr. Troy Cunningham, our Country Director for India. “Training local health workers like Shakuntala is a key part of that.” 

Operation Eyesight has been working closely with the state governments in both Arunachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh to establish vision care facilities within already-existing government health centres, such as Health and Wellness Centres. Additionally, we are providing training for ASHAs and other healthcare providers. This has helped make eye health care services available to the most underserved populations. 

“Our approach helps ensure that we leave no one behind, especially girls and women, which translates into empowered communities that can care for their own health,” Troy adds. “This work is so exciting because it aligns with the transformative impact on India’s health system.” 

For Shakuntala, it has enabled her to cater services to the unique needs of the patients and families she serves in her own community.  

To learn more about our partnership with the Government of India, read this success story. 

To donate to Operation Eyesight India and help provide training for more health workers like Shakuntala, click here.   

With files from Subhadip Bhattacharya, Head, Resource Mobilization.

The post Building on the strengths of local, government health workers appeared first on Operation Eyesight.

In his own words… 

“My name is Chikhale Motiram. I’m 21 years old, and I live in a small village in the Latur district in Maharashtra, India. I have one year of experience in surgical marketing. My father is a farmer, my mother is a house wife and I have four siblings. 

I completed the Vision Technician course from Operation Eyesight’s partner, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad in January 2019. Thanks to the training I received, I’ve now joined Udayagiri Lions Eye Hospital as a Vision Technician.  

I get to see different patients with different eye conditions. When the patients I have examined are given glasses and they go home with a smile on their face – that’s my favourite part about the work I do. 

I think the training was very important. It’s helpful to know how to diagnose a patient’s condition to refer them for treatment at the hospital. 

I took the refresher training for Vision Technicians/Optometrists. The training covered how to increase the number of patients helped, and to ensure patient satisfaction. Another important aspect of the training was to learn how to communicate with an uncooperative patient. 

Thank you so much for making this training available to me. I feel lucky to be helping people through my work.” 

It’s thanks to the support of people like you that Chikhale’s patients are receiving the quality eye care they need.

You can make it possible for more people like Chikhale to give the gift of sight to their communities with a donation today!

The post Chikhale is so grateful for your support! appeared first on Operation Eyesight.