FP367 : PREVALENCE OF PREVENTABLE CAUSES OF LOW VISION IN THE SCHOOLS FOR BLIND IN MEERUT, U.P.

Dr.KRITIKA GOGIA, K20116

Introduction

There are 1.4 million blind children in the world, two thirds of whom live in the developing countries. In majority of these children, blindness can be prevented.

Aim

To find out the prevalence of preventable blindness in schools for blind.

Result

Globe anomalies (40%) were found to be the most predominant cause followed by corneal pathologies (20.90%) and retinal anomalies (12.72%) respectively. Most cases of corneal scarring were attributed to infections and nutritional deficiencies in infancy and were preventable conditions.

Conclusion

In this study, 18.18% of children were blind from preventable conditions. These findings suggest the importance of public health strategies, primary prevention as well as health and nutrition education.