An HCP doctor takes a close look at a blind woman’s eye in the Himalayas.

Eye Care Crisis in the Himalaya

The Himalayan Cataract Project responds to a growing eye care crisis in the Himalayan Region. The World Health Organization estimates that 180 million people in the world are legally blind by US standards, and 45 million people are unable to see the largest letter on the eye-chart with either eye. These numbers are expected to double by the year 2020. Eighty percent of this vision loss is preventable or easily treatable. Fully half of this blindness is due to treatable cataracts (see Cataracts). Cataract surgery is the most cost-effective intervention in medicine, yet 80% of those blinded by cataracts will die before receiving surgery.

Ninety percent of the world’s blind live in developing areas. Currently, half of the population of Tibet becomes blinded by treatable cataracts by age 70, and many are blinded by age 40. In Nepal, cataracts and failed cataract surgery cause more than 70 percent of blindness. Whether due to a genetic predilection, the intense UV sunlight, diet, or other factors, this region has one of the highest rates of curable blindness in the world. Treatable cataract blindness in these poor, mountainous countries is seen as an almost certain death sentence. Life expectancy of the blind is usually less than half of sighted, age-matched controls. When a person without family goes blind in the Himalaya, he or she can expect to live for about three years.

The suffering caused by blindness deeply affects the family of each unfortunate, blinded individual. Especially in the Himalaya, where there are few paved roads and where terrain is rugged and mountainous, a blind person has incredible difficulty moving around with any independence. No social services exist for the blind, and blind individuals cannot contribute to family income. At the same time, however, the blind require almost constant care from at least one family member, and thus, their condition effectively removes two people from traditional contributing roles, a heavy burden on both the family and the community. With restored sight, many people return to work and to traditional roles in their families and societies.