India’s eye health: a new vision for the future

India, home to 1.46 billion people, carries the responsibility of caring for almost three billion eyes. Yet, the country’s eye care system faces a daunting challenge. With only 4,500 practising ophthalmologists, mostly in cities, large rural and semi-urban populations remain underserved, perpetuating avoidable vision loss.

The rise of optometry offers a clear path forward. India has around 42,000 four-year-trained professional optometrists, but needs over 100,000 to ensure comprehensive primary eye care. Optometrists are trained to detect and manage refractive errors, identify early cataract, screen for diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma, and coordinate referrals for surgical care.

The National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions (NCAHP) Act, 2021 provides the legal foundation for this transformation. By positioning optometrists at the frontline of eye health, India can ensure vision problems are identified early, preventing blindness and promoting equity.

Empowering optometrists is not a peripheral reform; it is a national investment in productivity, equity, and dignity. Every case of sight restored keeps a child in school, a worker in employment, and an elder independent. This is the Vision Dividend – measurable social and economic gains from preventing blindness.

India has the talent and training capacity. What it needs now, is the policy courage to let optometrists do what they are trained to do – protect the vision of a nation that cannot afford to look away.

Key recommendations

• Implement the NCAHP Act, 2021 to standardise education and regulate optometry practice

• Integrate optometrists into primary eye-care clinics across districts

• Increase awareness about optometrists’ role in eye care

• Invest in optometry education and training

By working together, we can create a future where every Indian has access to quality eye care, and vision problems are a thing of the past

(Dr. Anuradha Narayanan is principal, Elite School of Optometry, Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai and Kolkata, and member, Tamil Nadu State Council for Allied and Health care Professions. anun@snmail.org)