According to the National Programme for Control of Blindness (NPCB), India is home to a third of the world’s visually challenged population.

Despite the magnitude of the problem of avoidable blindness in developing countries, studies have shown that only a tiny percentage of the people needing treatment seek it. Hence we decided to start an eye care community initiative “Project Disha”, to reach out to these patients at their doorsteps rather than waiting for them to arrive at the hospital’s door. Project Disha is a community initiative by KD Hospital, Ahmedabad that aims to eradicate ‘Avoidable Blindness’ by facilitating eye care services in needy communities.

Another rationale behind Project Disha is that India’s vast population lives in rural areas. Because of their poverty and lack of awareness, the blindness rate is more pronounced, and these people remain needlessly blind. Most ophthalmic services are located in the cities, which are inaccessible to those who need them the most.

Through this program, we aim to reach out to those parts of the community who have no access and awareness about eye care services and provide them with the best ophthalmic services at their doorsteps. Under Project Disha, the cost of patient’s entire eye care journey from screening to treatment including surgeries will be taken care of and there will be no burden for the same on the patient.

Also, the population who requires these services the most are dependants- paediatric and elderly. Often the symptoms of the paediatric population go unnoticed while the elderly stays as the neglected population for their healthcare needs. Hence the idea of pre-emptive check-ups of the people and managing their entire treatment logistics forms the core part of project Disha.