After almost a year now, Covid 19 vaccine has finally arrived in India. With this, many administrators have started focusing back on the basic health issues people face in their designated areas and to assist them in overcoming these. Similarly, the Sambalpur district administration in Odisha has started the ‘Cataract Free Sambalpur’ campaign in which 7,500 free cataract surgeries are being conducted across nine blocks of the district. These will be concluded over the next one year.

District Magistrate and Collector of Sambalpur, Mr. Shubham Saxena, who is heading the campaign spoke with Indian Masterminds in an exclusive interview in which he discussed about the process of executing the campaign in the district.

THE NEED FOR THE CAMPAIGN

Mr. Saxena said, “During the pandemic, diseases such as cataract and conducting eye surgeries to treat it were not considered as essential health services. Therefore, we felt that once Covid 19 pandemic is controlled to a certain extent, we will organize mass campaigns for eye surgeries in the district.”

He added, “As eye surgeries are basic and can be cured anywhere, the main issue was with the people who couldn’t afford it. Accordingly, we made a plan for a year, in which 7,500 eye surgeries will be conducted across nine blocks of Sambalpur.”

CATARACT- FREE CAMPAIGN

Earlier, the district administration used to conduct health checkup campaigns in entire region but the turnout used to be less. People from remote areas in the district used to face issues in coming down to the district headquarters for attending the campaigns.

But this time things will be different. As Mr. Saxena explained to Indian Masterminds, “This is the first time we are conducting a campaign solely for the patients suffering from cataract, and it’s being executed under the National Programme for Control of Blindness (NPCB). Under this initiative, our team members will reach out to the affected patients by conducting campaigns at the gram panchayats and villages itself. This would help people living in interior areas of the district.’’

THE PROCESS

To conduct this initiative smoothly, the district administration has roped in an NGO called `Trilochan Netralaya’. The people from the NGO will be assisting the health team in every stage of the campaign. Apart from this, ASHA and Anganwadi workers will be conducting door-to-door surveys for the identification of patients suffering from cataract.

After the identification stage is completed, the NGO will assist the administration in conducting the free cataract campaign. A total of 14 block coordinators have been appointed for the survey and many volunteers from Sambalpur University, associated with social work and anthropology, will also be joining hands.

With the use of ground-level health workers, the campaign will be executed this year and people above 50 years of age will go through vision screening and get checked for cataract. The health documents of these people will also be collected and stored by the administration.