A man has his vision screened using a tablet as part of the RAAB7 eye health survey in Shahjahanpur and Lakhimpur Kheri district, India.
Credit: Dr Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital
Vision screening and data collection is underway as part of an innovative partnership between Peek Vision and Dr Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital to improve vision and eye health in India.
Dr Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital is one of the oldest and largest eye care institutions in India. The partnership with Peek is focusing on two districts in the Uttar Pradesh region. The work aims to improve the eye health of the population through three research and development projects using cutting edge software, data intelligence and public health research tools.
- Identifying which people have untreated eye problems: A Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness (RAAB) survey is taking place to develop a baseline understanding of the region’s eye health needs. Conducted using the RAAB7 platform which is powered by Peek technology, the survey is assessing the prevalence and causes of vision loss and blindness in the catchment area of Mohammadi hospital in Shahjahanpur and Lakhimpur Kheri district.
- Working out who is currently benefiting from eye health services: A separate analysis of hospital use is providing a baseline on how eye health services have been used for the last three years.
- Understanding the journey and barriers to people reaching the services: A door-to-door community eye health programme using Peek software and services has begun in communities surrounding three vision centres of Mohammdi hospital. Through screening people for eye problems and connecting them to care, the programme will help the team to understand how people reach services and why some people are not currently being reached.
The results of these three streams of work will then be used to holistically develop and improve an eye health programme design that optimises service capacity and allows more people to access care.
“This is an innovative project to see how we can work with Peek Vision to better meet the eye health needs of the population,” says Dr Shalinder Sabherwal, Associate Medical Director and Head of Community Ophthalmology at Dr Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital. “We’re already finding that using Peek technology to conduct the RAAB survey and deliver the community eye health programme is making data collection and management more convenient. We look forward to seeing how the wider results of the work can help deliver more effective eye care in the region.”
Dr Andrew Bastawrous, CEO of Peek Vision, says: “Dr Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital is recognised globally for its quality eye care and research. We’re excited to see how this collaboration can help optimise eye health services to make sure more people receive the care they need. The results will also inform Peek’s product development work, ultimately helping to improve all programmes globally that are powered by Peek.“