Establishing
an Eye Hospital in Gulburga, Need Assessment
Page
1 of 3
As per earlier studies, the northern part of Karnataka has
poor health status compared to rest of the state. Blindness
is one of the major health problems and blindness prevention
is one of the most cost-effective public health interventions
available. Considering the importance of the blindness control,
a need assessment study was conducted from November 7 -
24, 2004 in the district of Gulburga for establishing an
eye hospital.
The
objectives of the study was to determine the magnitude of
blindness in the district, to identify existing service
providers in government and private sector, to explore the
paying capacity of the community towards the eye services
and to assess the need for establishing an eye hospital.
The
study population comprised of community members and the
service providers. Five taluks were included in the study
and from each taluk two PHC areas and from each PHC area
one village was selected for data collection. The qualitative
method of data collection was adopted using techniques like
focus group discussions, in depth interviews and observation.
The sample size undertaken to conduct the study was 18 In-depth
interviews with service providers and 10 focus group discussions
in the community. Also, a visit was made to L V Prasad Eye
Institute, Hyderabad to understand its structure and working
mechanism.
The
findings of the study reveal that the community has poor
socio economic conditions in Gulburga. The literacy level
is low among females. The main source of income is through
agriculture and working as laborers. According to the community
on an average 20-25 people in each village suffers from
eye related problems like blurred vision, watering of eyes,
headache, conjunctivitis; some of them have irritation due
to dust related to agriculture. According to DH&FWO, the
district has 2% prevalence of blindness, which is higher
than the national average and about 0.5 percent of outpatient
attendance in various government hospitals is related to
eye problems. Cataract is the major cause of blindness and
constitute around 80- 90 % of cases reporting to eye hospitals.
Apart from cataract, there are cases with refraction errors,
conjunctivitis, Trauma, Traumatic cataract, Glaucoma, Damage
in Retina etc.
Next
Page >>
