Title of the practice:
Best practice in Department of Ophthalmology is Free Cataract surgeries performed at Dr. Vasantrao Pawar Medical College,Hospital and Research Centre under NPCB (National Programme for Control of Blindness) whereby talukas of Nashik district are adopted. The MVP Parent body has given blanket permission to treat any patient of Nashik district free of cost for Cataract Surgery.
Objectives of practice:
“Service to Mankind is service to God “, keeping this principle in mind, Dr. Vasantrao Pawar Medical College offers its free service to the poor and needy people of remote and rural areas around Nashik. By adopting various talukas of Nashik, our institution tries to reach the impoverished masses and make medical facilities easily available at their doorstep. This is a small but important step taken to eradicate blindness and make a ‘Motibindu Mukt Nashik District’.
The Context:
What were the contextual features or challenging issues that needed to be addressed in designing and implementing this practice –
For the awareness of people regarding cataract, network of schools and colleges owned by our parent institute are of great help. These institutions provide a great base for the publicity of cataract camps. The tribal population was a huge challenge to get convinced to undergo cataract surgery, as it was difficult for them to spare time from their job of daily wages.
The Practice:
At present we have adopted 5 taluka – Satana, Deola, Malegaon, Chandwad and Nashik Gramin for Free Cataract camps. Prior to the day of cataract camp our MSWs go to these areas and do campaigning, thereby explaining about eye health and importance of vision.
On the day of camp, our team goes to the village allotted and patients are screened for cataract. Those patients who have refractive error are prescribed spectacles. Patients with other eye disorders are referred to the hospital.
Patients with cataract are brought to the hospital and operated by eye surgeons after routine blood investigations and physician fitness. Free pickup and drop facility is given. Free meals are served during their stay in the hospital. After the surgery free post-operative medicines and eye drops are given. Post-operative care and hygiene is explained to the patient. Any post-operative complication is dealt efficiently. Follow up services include examination of operated eye, refraction and prescription of spectacles.
Evidence of success:
Target given by Government is 150 surgeries per year. Apart from this other Ophthalmic surgeries are also performed.
| Sr.No | Year | Target Achieved |
| 1 | 2015-16 | 137 |
| 2 | 2016-17 | 130 |
| 3 | 2017-18 | 40 |
| 4 | 2018-19 | 57 |
| 5 | 2019-20 | 203 |
Problems encountered and resources required:
We face problems like failure of positive response from patient to get operated due to lack of awareness and ignorance towards one’s health and eyesight. Patients are hesitant to undergo surgery because of the misconception and social myth. Rural people engaged in farming fail to come in harvest season as their absence from work causes financial loss. But these obstacles are overcome by the efficient counselling of our MSW’s who convince them to get operated at the proper time to avoid visual loss.