More than 85% of cases of vision loss in country preventable: Experts

India has the maximum number of visually challenged people in the world but 85 per cent of the cases of vision loss are preventable or treatable and there was a need to spread awareness about it, experts say.

On the occasion of the World Sight Day, the experts noted that India is home to an estimated 34 million people living with blindness or moderate or severe visual impairment (MSVI).

Dr Ikeda Lal, senior cornea, cataract and refractory surgery specialist, at Delhi Eye Centre and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital Delhi said, "It is important to spread awareness around preventable blindness because more than 85 per cent of the blindness is preventable if only people know how to address it".

The common reasons for blindness in India are cataract, glaucoma, macular degeneration, uncorrected refractive error, diabetic retinopathy and corneal blindness.

Unfortunately, people often do not know that all these conditions can be treated and blindness can be reversed, Dr Lal said.

Dr Rajesh Sinha, .