Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness and Willingness to Pay for Cataract Surgery in Tribal Region of Surat District of Gujarat State, India.
- Resource Type
- Article
- Authors
- Chariwala, Rohan A.; Shah, Shaheen P.; Patel, Daksha; Chaudhari, Sheetal P.; Gajiwala, Uday R.
- Source
- Ophthalmic Epidemiology. Apr2021, Vol. 28 Issue 2, p152-159. 8p.
- Subject
- *WILLINGNESS to pay
*CATARACT surgery
*BLINDNESS
*VISUAL acuity
*EYE care
- Language
- ISSN
- 0928-6586
To estimate prevalence and causes of avoidable blindness among people ≥50 years and to assess willingness to pay (WTP) for cataract surgery in tribal region of south Gujarat, India. A cross-sectional population based survey was conducted with 44 randomly selected clusters each having 50 people aged ≥50 years selected by probability proportional to size of sampling. Adults identified with cataract causing visual loss (<6/18) in any eye were interviewed to assess their WTP for surgery. Total of 2137 examined out of 2200 people enumerated (response rate 97.1%). The prevalence of blindness (Presenting Visual Acuity (PVA)<3/60 in better eye) was 2.23% (95% CI: 2.95%–1.51%). Cataract was main cause of blindness (67.3%) followed by corneal scarring (8.2%). Major barrier to cataract surgery cited by bilaterally blind people was lack of escort to the surgical facility (34.3%). Cataract surgical coverage (CSC) was 84.9% (eyes) and 92% (persons). Of the 492 people interviewed to assess WTP for their surgery, only 36.4% people were willing to pay. The tribal population has a high poverty profile in India. Within this group, cataract remains the main treatable cause of blindness despite a high CSC. Assessment of barriers suggested that a well-coordinated outreach programme with free transport facilities to the surgical facility is required along with strategies to improve accessibility and prioritising cataract blind in the community. One-third of people were willing to pay for their surgeries implying that cross subsidization or tier system could be feasible for eye care programme sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]