India Vision Institute (IVI), an NGO group based out of Chennai, conducted a two-day programme - Vision And Road Safety (VARS-2022) - in collaboration with Sightsavers India and Vision Spring, where experts talked about the significance of healthy vision to prevent road accidents.
The opening day’s session, on February 10, saw Vinod Daniel, CEO, IVI, talk about the connection between vision and road safety.
R.N. Mohanty, from Sightsavers India, spoke on how 70 per cent of road deaths in India are in the age group of 18 to 45. “It affects our GDP. The intention of accident prevention so far has been on four Es—education, enforcement, engineering, and environment and emergency care. I feel there has to be a fifth ‘E’, and that is eye.”
It is imperative for commercial drivers to have a clear vision, said Anshu Taneja, who leads operations for VisionSpring in India. “Efficiency and productivity decrease because of lack of vision. Commercial drivers were the backbone of our economy when the pandemic raged. It is about time we did something for them and improved their vision.”
Ella Rain Gudwin, CEO, VisionSpring Global, said, “To date, road safety interventions have focused on seat belts, speed, alcohol, road design, and overloading. Today, we are going to talk about an additional solution that is hiding in plain sight – eyeglasses. They are a simple, powerful, scalable tool to help drivers avoid hazards on the road and save lives.”
IVI hopes to provide commercial drivers across the country access to vision screening and a pair of corrective glasses. They are educating drivers on the need for good vision.
“We have screened close to 65,000 commercial drivers in three south Indian states. 59 per cent of them needed spectacles. Around 24 per cent of them were not able to see at a distance, of which two per cent were severely myopic and had a power more than minus two. This was severely compromising their ability to see,” said Daniel.
He said government needs to strengthen and monitor policies when it comes to road safety. “We need to have vision centres closer to Regional Transport Offices. In western countries, you have a vision chart behind the person who processes your licence. If your vision levels are not satisfactory, you don’t get the licence. Though things are improving in India a lot more needs to be done.”
Daniel said IVI will organise more events and awareness campaigns on vision and road safety. “It is an ongoing process. We will bring in all stakeholders and do whatever we can to make Indian roads safer.”
IVI’s initiatives, since it was formed in 2012, have helped over four lakh people, including three lakh children. "We are committed to making a difference to the lives of people who are affected by uncorrected refractive error. Preventing preventable blindness through timely interventions of qualified optometrists remains a key priority for us," said Daniel. In 1,550 vision screening programmes across India, IVI has provided one lakh free corrective glasses to people with refractive errors.
Peter Hendicott, associate professor and head of the school of optometry at the Qut Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation in Australia, was one of the speakers at VARS-2022. "Uncorrected vision endangers lives. I am happy that IVI is creating the right awareness in this regard," he said.
