Mahesh Kadammanavar, faculty at IPH facilitated the session on ‘National Program on Control of Blindness’ (NPCB) on 12th of March 2012 for the Block Program Mangers
The first half of the session covered information about visual impairment, types, disease burden specific to India, major cause, of visual impairment in children and adults, and factors affecting the prevalence of visual impairment in India. The NPCB, its history, goals, objectives, strategies, activities under the program, calculation of prevalence rate were then discussed. The facilitator disseminated information on current activities happening under the program in Tumkur district, local NGOs involved and current statistics pertaining to blindness. This was followed by an activity in which the participants were given 2 case studies to work upon. The discussion that followed the activity brought our many practical suggestions on the role of BPM in checking blindness register during field visits, identifying under-reporting, guiding ANMs in this regard, role of immunization in preventing blindness in children and the importance of networking with local NGOs