Comprehensive Eye Care Outreach Programme
Reduction of Avoidable Blindness among Children and Youth
Community Based Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities
Don Bosco Eye Care Ambulance
Link Workers Schemes
Kshamta Kendra
Comprehensive Eye Care Outreach Programme
Comprehensive Eye Care Outreach Pragramme has been implemented since 2010 covering selected 13 districts of Assam which include Udalguri, Baksa, Goalpara, Kamrup (Metro and Rural), Barpeta, Chirang, Morigaon, KarbiAnglong, Nagaon, Sonitpur, Nalbari, Darrang and Dima Hasao. It aimed to contribute to the reduction of avoidable blindness due to cataract in the community and blindness due to refractive errors of the schools children in the state of Assam. It was supported by Light for the world (LFW) Austria, Regional Institute of Ophthalmology Guwahati, District Blindness Control Society Baksa, District Blindness Control Society Darrang, District Blindness Control Society Goalpara, District Blindness Control Society Morigaon, District Blindness Control Society Udalguri and District Blindness Control Society Kamrup Rural and Metro.
During the 10 years of project implementation 302 camps were conducted, 6411 cataract patients received successful surgery, 3356 spectacles were provided to school children and patients, and 116454 children and adult were screened.
Reduction of Avoidable Blindness among Children and Youth
Reduction of Avoidable blindness among Children and Youth was supported by Misiones Salesianas Madrid, Spain and carried out with the help of the Medical Team from Regional Institute of Ophthalmology, Guwahati and 200 Bedded District Civil Hospital Goalpara. Its objective is to contribute to the reduction of avoidable blindness through comprehensive eye care programme in Assam among children and youth. It aims to support the government under the Programme of National Programme for Control Blindness (NPCB), Assam. It was implemented particularly in two districts of Udalguri and Goalpara.
During one year of project, 18 eye camps were conducted at eight schools for children and nine villages for community. 5236 school children received vision testing and 114 of them received free spectacles. 3816 patients were screened, 607 patients from community were diagnosed with cataract during the eye camps and referred for surgery, 416 patients were hospitalized and 393 patients of them received successful cataract surgery at 200 Bedded District Civil Hospital, Goalpara. 1611 spectacles were provided to the patients including community and school children.
Community Based Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities
‘Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) in Boko Block of Kamrup Rural District of Assam’ covered 20 villages chosen for the Project with 3864 households and 18624 population having a male population of 9369 and a female population of 9123, child population (0-6) 2415, and Scheduled Tribe Population 15704 (84.92% of the Total Population). It aims at having the local community take responsibility for the growth and development of its members who have disabilities as it does for its other members, making use of all the available resources and opportunities.
Don Bosco Eye Care Ambulance
Bosco Reach Out started conducting free eye screening camps with its available resources, Eye Care Ambulance, aimed to reduce avoidable blindness among school-going children and youth through a comprehensive eye care programme in its operational areas. The free eye screening camp provides checking of vision. Anyone detected with less than 6/9 vision was provided with a glass prescription if needed after the refraction test. Those suspected of having other ocular diseases were referred to a nearby eye hospital. During the screening, the students received counselling on the importance of using glasses and the required precautions to maintain healthy eyesight.
Link Workers Schemes
The HIV/AIDS – Link Workers Scheme, a very ambitious project implemented in the Cachar district of Assam, aims to check the rapid growth of STI and HIV infection among the high-risk community of society through an appropriate rights-based approach and create an enabling environment in society. The project has helped to build a rural community model to address the complex needs of rural HIV prevention, care, and support requirements in selected geographies. It has reached out to rural populations who are vulnerable and at risk of HIV/AIDS in a non-stigmatized enabling environment. It has also improved access to information materials and commodities (condoms, needles/syringes) through collaboration with the nearest TI or government health facilities, testing, and treatment services to ensure no duplication of services or resources. It has improved linkage to other social and health benefits provided by other line departments in line with local norms and regulations suitable for vulnerable populations.
Kshamta Kendra
Bosco Reach Out is the Kshamta Kendra (TI – Training Institute), providing adequate and appropriate capacity-building training to Targeted Intervention (TI) and Link Workers Scheme (LWS) staff in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Sikkim states under Prashiksha (Blended Training). The project aimed to strengthen the capacities of the different TI staff cadres to perform effectively at the grassroots level. The training was fruitful for the trainees in terms of gaining knowledge of the changes in NACP V, how to do documentation, and filling up different forms like Forms A, B, C, and D. This has helped them to be more active at the field level.