L V Prasad Eye Institute is part of first Global Research Program Devoted to Vision and Sustainable Development Goals

Press Release

• 12-06-2021

Hyderabad: In collaboration with the Queen's University of Belfast, L V Prasad Eye Institute along with nearly 30 other partners from the USA, UK, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and India, is working on a suite of studies to explore the impact of vision care on the global level to achieve Sustainable Development Goals in low and middle-income countries. The study has received funding support of £3.5 million from theWellcome Trust and Chen Yet-Sen Family Foundation.

Poor vision is the world’s largest unmet disability affecting 2.2 billion people. About 8.8 million people in India are blind, and another 47 million people are visually impaired. 70% of the blindness the world over is preventable. Led by Professor Nathan Congdon of Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) in the UK and Dr Rohit Khanna of the L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI), various universities, schools nongovernment organizations, public health bodies, government ministries, institutions and patient groups are part of themulti-disciplinary study team. From LVPEI, Senior Public Health Specialists – Dr Srinivas Marmamula and Ms Asha Latha Metla and Senior Retina Consultant - Dr Raja Narayanan are also part of the study. The other collaborators from India include Dr SuvarnaAlladi from NIMHANS at Bangalore, Dr PallabMaulik from The George Institute for Global Health India at New Delhi and Mr ShashidharKomaravolu from the Alzheimer’s and Related Disorders Society of India, Hyderabad Deccan Chapter.

“Termed as ENGINE (Eyecare Nurtures Good-health, Innovation, driving-safety and Education), it is a five-year project designed to leverage high-quality research results to drive lasting policy change and achieve an improved quality of life for people in low and middle-income countries. ENGINE comprises four research trials in India, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, to examine the impact of glasses on promoting better living, from childhood to old age, and the impact on multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” says Dr Rohit Khanna, Director, GullapalliPratibha Rao International Centre for Advancement of Rural Eye care (GPR ICARE), L V Prasad Eye Institute.

The four research projects that are part of this study are:

• CLEVER (Cognitive Level Enhancement through Vision Exams and Refraction) that supports the Indian government’s strategy of finding scalable, low-cost means of preventing dementia, the management of which currently consumes 1.5% of national GDP. This project is built upon the work done in homes for aged project funded by Wellcome Trust India Alliance.

• STABLE (Slashing Two-wheeler Accidents By Leveraging Eyecare) that will assist local partners, including the Vietnamese Ministry of Transport, to combat Vietnam’s twin epidemics of uncorrected short-sightedness and motorcycle crashes in the young.

• ZEAL (Zimbabwe Eyecare and Learning) that will work with local partners who currently implement the Zimbabwe government’s national school vision project to explore how targeting long-sighted children with the novel, low-cost screening can add to the academic impact of the programme.

• THRIFT (Transforming Households with Refraction and Innovative Financial Technology) that will capitalise on the Bangladesh government’s novel and forward-looking plan to digitise all social safety net payments to the elderly by providing free glasses and training to help them better cope with unfamiliar smartphones, thus improving financial independence.

The focus is on:

• Reducing road traffic injuries, the world’s leading cause of death in children and young people

• Enhancing learning among the millions of African children with long-sightedness, present at higher rates in Africa than in any other global region

• Slowing the onset of cognitive decline and dementia among elderly persons struggling with poor sight. Proven preventive strategies for cognitive decline and dementia are desperately needed and could reduce incidence by an estimated 41%

• Improving economic independence by helping older people use online banking on smartphones, as currently two-thirds of adults in Bangladesh are excluded from financial services

“Decision-makers need high-quality evidence. Our previous trials showing that glasses enhance school performance in China and workplace productivity in India have spurred government and industry-led vision programmes around the world. ENGINE’s local partners in academia, civil society and government are well-placed to ensure that this project drives similar policy action, changing lives and helping achieve the SDGs in these four countries and beyond,” saysProfessor Nathan Congdon of Queen’s University Belfast and Director of Research at Orbis International, the study’s principal investigator.

“Traffic injuries are the leading cause of death globally between ages 5 and 29. While only 60% of vehicles are found in low and middle-income countries, 90% of traffic deaths occur there.The World Bank and others suggest Bangladesh’s novel strategy of delivering safety net payments through e-banking to the elderly provides a model for many other countries, especially during COVID, if visual challenges for users are successfully met. The study happening in India and Vietnam are the first trials of their kind, examining how low-cost vision care can slow the pace of cognitive decline with aging and deliver safe roads in low-resource settings,” added Dr Khanna.

“700 years on from the invention of glasses, poor vision is still the largest unaddressed disability in the world and is getting worse. We will never be able to complete the Sustainable Development Goals unless this hurdle is faced. This research programme represents a watershed moment in proving the importance of addressing vision correction throughout the life course and development agenda,” concludes James Chen, Chairman of the Chen Yet Sen Family Foundation.

Previous News